Collie Power men’s team vs Hay Park
With a chance to win the league, the Collie Power men hosted an under manned Hay Park side.
Collie were quick out of the blocks and after two minutes had a free kick at the top of the box. Jovan Duricic stepped up to curl the ball around the wall into the bottom corner for an earl 1 nil lead.
To Hay Park’s credit, their team of 10 men lead by Sean Cunniffe defended well and frustrated Collie to the point where they nearly scored after some sloppy passing by Collie’s defense.
Collie finally broke through again in the 33rd minute when Chris Vennetti drove home a shot from 20 yards out to consolidate Collie’s lead.
Only four minutes later Ricky Colombera finally put the through ball he had been trying all half to do to Mark Tenney, who slotted the ball past the oncoming keeper to give Collie a 3 nil lead at half-time.
At 3 nil up coach Harker wanted more from the team, as there were too many turnovers in critical areas which could have been costly.
Collie came out all guns blazing with a seven-minute blitz of Mark Tenney goals.
At the 50-minute mark Tenney latched onto a loose ball and punished Hay Park with a clinical finish.
Only three minutes later Jovan Duricic drove through the centre and found Vennetti at the top of the box, who in turn with a delicate little defense splitting pass, found Tenney who beat the keeper for his hat-trick goal.
Again it only took three minutes to score again, as a Hay Park goal kick went straight to Tenney who did what he does best and drove into the box and calmly shot past the keeper for his fourth to give Collie a 6 nil lead.
Credit must go to the Hay Park boys who played with heart and determination all game, but in the end the Power came away 6 nil winners to clinch the league title with two games to spare.
The Power men have had a long season and the improvement in their game under coach Garreth Harker has been immense.
They travel to Eaton next week before hosting Dynamos in the last regular season game, then on Sunday, September 30 travel to Dalyellup to play old foes Blackwood United in the South West Cup final.
Collie Power ladies’s team vs Australind
The Collie Power ladies hosted second-placed Australind on Sunday, with Collie hoping to keep its run of good form going.
Both teams started well with chances to score, but it was Australind who broke the deadlock to go one nil up.
The Power responded well but could not break down the strong Australind defense and were unlucky to concede a second goal to be down 2 nil at half-time.
The second half replicated the first with both teams attacking, but it was Australind who took their chances and scored two more to give them a 4 nil win at the final whistle.
This season has been a credit to the Collie side. Their team work and camaraderie has seen them challenge the bigger clubs and put the young side in a good position for next year and the future.
The Power ladies have a bye this week, but will look to finish the season with a win against Capel in two weeks.