Saturday afternoon at Arkinstall Park saw Tweed United FC gain another six points in the Gold Coast 1st Division.
Up against 9th placed Bond Uni, ‘A’ Grade won 6-2 and Reserve Grade made it 13 in a row with a whopping 14-1 win.
‘A’ grade started strongly, creating several opportunities only to see the ball hit the post, the goalkeeper or miss the target. Tweed paid the price for missed opportunities when, against the run of play, Bond scored first and hit the lead off a counter attack after 15 minutes.
The next 30 minutes saw Tweed’s attack kick into gear, with four goals, snuffing out any hopes Bond may have had of an upset against the top of the table Tweed United outfit. Tweed coasted through the second half scoring early to cruise to a 6-2 victory.
Alex Thelwall added to his already impressive season tally with another four goals, ably assisted with quality service from midfielders Matt Noble, Matt Nichols and Michael Kolovos.
Josh Taylor bagged a double with a strong performance. Congrats go to Youth (U17) player Sam Carter who made his ‘A’ grade debut off the bench, earning a call-up from Coach Dennis Dodd after some good performances in Reserve Grade in recent weeks. Ben Phillips also earned a spot in the starting line-up after playing well and putting in on the training paddock.
Reserve Grade continued their march to the Minor premiership with another massive win.
Although Tweed United didn’t play their best football, it was enough to put away last placed Bond Uni 14-1. Usual suspects Aaron Maingay, Nolan White, Brad Gregory and Andrew McMullen had a field day against an out of sorts Bond defence in a Saturday afternoon goal-fest. In a trait shown by successful teams that make winning a habit, the Tweed United Boys were disappointed with conceding a late goal and missing many chances to make the scoreline even bigger.
Next Saturday brings around the game we’ve all been waiting for – the deferred Round 9 local derby against Murwillumbah FC, which pits the No1 and No2 sides in the Gold Coast 1st Division head to head for the first time this year at Arkinstall Park.
With the result contributing to a possible Minor Premiership, I’m quite sure both teams will be fired up to make a statement coming into the business end of the season. Reserve Grade kick off at 1pm and ‘A’ grade at 3pm.
If you only get a chance to see one game of local football at Arkinstall Park this year, this would be the one. It promises to provide a great afternoon’s entertainment with a hard fought, high quality game of football. Till next time – Go The Marlins.