Top first grade trio score more wins on Saturday

Wee Waa United FC continued its impressive form on Saturday when it scored a dominant 5-0 victory in the ninth round of the 2022 Namoi Soccer League first grade campaign.

Wee Waa took on Narrabri Eleven FC on home soil at Cook Oval and converted a 4-0 half-time lead into a five-goal victory to remain just a point behind the competition’s top-ranked side, and fellow round nine winners, Inverell FC.

Inverell travelled to Moree in round nine where it scored a 4-1 win against the hosts to move to 21 competition points following seven wins and two losses in 2022.

Wee Waa has six wins, two draws and just one loss and still sits just one point behind Inverell ahead of their top-of-the-table round 10 clash.

However, when those two teams eventually meet in a match in which the top spot on the ladder is on the line, neither may actually be in first place. The match was scheduled to be played this Saturday but has been moved to July 16 when the comp has a spare weekend, during which no games were scheduled.

That means that third-placed side Narrabri FC can overtake Inverell and Wee Waa if it beats Narrabri Eleven FC in the second Narrabri derby of the year this Saturday.

In round nine, Narrabri FC scored a 2-0 home ground win against fourth-placed Gunnedah FC at Hogan Oval.

That victory saw the Narrabri team create a six-point gap between itself and Gunnedah while remaining just one point behind Wee Waa and two behind Inverell.

The side that has won the past five first grade minor premierships will move into first place on the ladder for the first time this season with a win on Saturday.

The match between the other two top-three sides a week later would then determine who is on top going into the final third of the 15-round campaign.

At Cook Oval on Saturday, two of Wee Waa’s newest additions in 2022 combined for four goals in the 5-0 win. The side’s leading goal-scorer Ray Nixon was one of those two players and the other was Ben Cooper.

Cooper scored his fourth goal for the club in the fifth minute of the contest, before coach David Avery netted the home side’s second five minutes later.

Nixon then fired two goals in three minutes to make the score 4-0 with 19 minutes left to play in the first period.

That was the way the score remained at the break before Cooper scored the lone second half goal seven minutes after play restarted.

Wee Waa’s clean sheet was its fifth of the season and saw it remain the only side to have conceded less than 10 goals this year.

The side’s defence, especially its goalkeeper Steve Phelps, have been outstanding throughout the 2022 campaign and have only leaked nine goals, while at the other end of the field Wee Waa has scored a competition-best 43 goals.

Nixon’s double saw him finish the round on 12 goals in second place in the golden boot race. He is just two behind the competition’s leading goal-scorer, Inverell’s Andrew Saru, who scored a hat-trick in his side’s 4-1 win in Moree in round nine.

At Hogan Oval on Saturday, the home side opened the scoring in the 33rd minute when Narrabri FC’s Zac Stait ran onto a loose ball after Gunnedah FC goalkeeper Daniel Snider made a brilliant diving save to deny a Cooper Brayshaw shot. With Snider on the ground, Stait fired the ball over the top of him and into the back of the net to make the score 1-0, which was the way it remained at the break.

Colby Williams then doubled the Narrabri side’s lead with a brilliant solo effort on the hour mark after he ran onto a Stait pass and charged 20 metres towards goal while beating three defenders before driving a shot into the bottom left corner.

That was the final goal of the game as Narrabri FC defended strongly to keep its fourth clean sheet in five matches.

Meanwhile, Inverell FC extended its lead at the top of the reserve grade ladder to 11 points after defeating the second-placed side, Moree Services FC, 3-0 in a top-of-the-table clash on Saturday.

Inverell FC is undefeated following nine wins from as many matches to boast a maximum 27 points.

The other two round nine games were draws on Saturday when Wee Waa United and Narrabri Eleven FC scored two goals each at Cook Oval, and Narrabri FC and Gunnedah FC scored one goal each at Hogan Oval.

In Wee Waa, the hosts led 1-0 at the break after Axel Currey scored the only goal in the opening half. His teammate Ben Gilliland also scored in the second half, but Elevens duo Pat Lindsay and Riley Longworth both netted to earn their side its first competition point of the season.

At Hogan Oval, Brenton Cochrane opened the scoring for Narrabri FC with the only goal of the first half, then Gunnedah FC’s Will Hicks equalised in the second stanza.

Round 10 matches this Saturday will see Narrabri FC and Narrabri Eleven FC go head-to-head at Hogan Oval, and Gunnedah FC host Moree. Wee Waa will then travel to take on Inverell FC the following weekend.