Wee Waa United FC suffered its first on-field loss of the Namoi Premier League first grade season on Saturday when the hosts went down 5-2 against competition ladder leaders Narrabri FC at Cook Oval.
The Narrabri side went into that match having prevailed in four of its five games in 2023, the only loss being at the hands of Wee Waa in Narrabri at Hogan Oval on Thursday, May 4.
Wee Waa United FC came out firing and was the better team in the first half that night, but the Narrabri men flipped the script in the sides’ round six encounter.
The visitors opened the scoring in the fifth minute and they scored three more times in the opening half as they went into the break leading 4-0.
Wee Waa United outscored Narrabri FC 2-1 in the second stanza, however, the visitors defended their way to a 5-2 victory.
It was a win that saw Narrabri FC go five points clear at the top of the table. Its fifth victory in six rounds saw it finish the weekend on 15 competition points, while second-placed Wee Waa United and third-placed Inverell FC sit more than a win behind. They are both on 10 points.
Moree Services FC is still winless at the bottom of the four-team ladder as a result of its 3-0 loss against Inverell FC in Moree on Saturday.
The score was 1-0 at the half-time break in that game after Kai Douglas scored the only goal of the first half. His teammates Ovie Auppin and Don Kiri then netted in the second stanza to help secure Inverell’s third win of the campaign.
In Wee Waa, it was Cooper Brayshaw who scored first for Narrabri FC as the centre midfielder intercepted a pass about 25 metres out from the goal, beat a defender and fired a powerful left-footed shot into the bottom right corner to make the score 1-0.
Brayshaw doubled the visitors’ lead in the 24th minute when he scored from close range after the Wee Waa defence failed to clear a miskicked Rowan Keeler shot after winger Colby Williams had whipped in a brilliant cross from the right edge.
In-form striker Connor Hill scored the goal of the game five minutes later when he smashed a volley just under the crossbar and into the back of the net after the visitors had sent a long ball from a free kick into the box and a Bailey Campbell header deflected off a Wee Waa defender into Hill’s path.
Hill netted his second goal of the contest 90 seconds later when he ran onto a bouncing Brayshaw through ball and volleyed over the advancing Wee Waa goalkeeper, Matt Freeman, into the back of the net.
Wee Waa United hit back just four minutes into the second half when Zac Stait scored a classy goal on debut against his former club. In his first game since last season’s grand final, Stait ran onto a bouncing cross from the right sideline, chested the ball towards goal, went past two Narrabri FC defenders and found the bottom right corner with a volleyed shot with the outside of his boot after creating a one-on-one opportunity with Narrabri FC’s captain and goalkeeper Zaac Brayshaw.
Hill restored Narrabri FC’s four-goal lead in the 55th minute when he got onto a curling Tom Holland corner at the back stick and volleyed a shot into the back of the net to make the score 5-1.
It became 5-2 in the 69th minute when Ray Nixon charged onto a Ben Cooper through ball and went around Zaac Brayshaw to score into an empty net.
That was the game’s final goal, with the best chance in the final 20 minutes coming in the 80th when a Jordan Hannaford shot was cleared off the line by Narrabri FC centre-back Nathan Trindall, who headed away the danger.
Narrabri FC’s coach Neil Brayshaw and his players were pleased with the first-half performance but knew they could have been much better in the second stanza.
Wee Waa United FC was without its key men at both ends as goalkeeper Steve Phelps and striker David Avery were both sidelined with illness, and the side’s second-half effort was quite promising. However, it gave itself too much work to do after being down by four goals at the break.
Meanwhile, Narrabri FC maintained its perfect defensive record in reserve grade after it beat Wee Waa United 3-0 at Cook Oval.
Jorian Fleming scored the only goal in the first half, and then Connor Hill and Callum Wales found the back of the net in the second half.
Fleming’s goal was his fifth of the campaign, and he now leads the reserve golden boot race.
Narrabri FC is top of the table with a maximum 18 points after six rounds. It has remarkably kept clean sheets in every game so far this year as it is yet to concede a goal.
The other round six reserve grade match was won by Moree Services FC, which scored a 3-1 home-ground win against Narrabri Eleven FC.
The score was 1-all at the half-time break in that game after the Elevens’ skipper Jesse Weekes scored for his side and Adam Schubert netted for the hosts.
Schubert scored a second goal in the second half, and Sam Phelps also found the back of the net as Moree won by two goals.
Wee Waa United FC will travel over to Inverell to challenge Inverell FC in first grade this Saturday, and the club’s reserve grade side will take on Narrabri Elevens, which is expected to be contested in Narrabri at Hogan Oval on Saturday.
The other round seven matches will see Narrabri FC host Moree Services FC in both grades on Saturday.
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