Goonellabah Hornets head into Round 14 of the Men’s Premier competition with a four point lead on main rivals Byron Bay and defending Champions Lismore Richmond Rovers.
In a weekend that saw the Hornets flex their muscles to defeat Rovers 3-1 and kick four points clear of the East Lismore club, they received an unexpected bonus when Lismore Workers defeated Byron Bay in the Sunday game.
Goonellabah has performed well in season 2016 and when they assumed top spot on the ladder a few weeks ago, they would have realised the challenge to maintain that position. The Hornets were down 1-0 early in Saturday’s game before equalising and the decisive goal came late in the match when an uncustomary defensive error from the Rovers defence turned the ledger in favour of the visitors.
It was widely thought that the Hornets pointscore lead would be trimmed to a slender one point margin following the Byron Bay and Workers clash, however the Redmen defied the non-believers who scorned at any suggestion that they could regroup from last week’s big loss inflicted by Bangalow and seriously challenge the strong Rams side? The absence of the outstanding Aaron Walker and tough midfielder Herick Schueneman would not have helped the Rams cause, but a Workers victory was still not factored in by most.
In other games, Thistles found 5 goals although conceded 2 against Lennox Head to keep their hopes for the semi-finals alive and Bangalow replicated that scoreline in their match against Casino. The Friday night clash ended one all, with Italo Stars and Alstonville earning a valuable point in the respective quest to avoid relegation.
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