THE Boambee Bombers defeated Port Macquarie United 2-1 in last Saturday’s clash at Ayrshire Park to consolidate their position in the top two of the Coastal Premier League.

Bombers captain Mitchell Brewster whipped in a dipping corner kick which Luke France nodded home to open the scoring and Tom Frewen came off the bench to nod the Bombers to victory and take the three points.

Bombers captain Michell Brewster was pleased to see the team bounce following dropping points on the road.

“Over the last few weeks we’ve had some pretty poor results so to bounce back like we did today against a quality side like Port was crucial for us going forward.

“I feel like we played well in patches today and our structure in defence kept Port’s forwards fairly quiet for the majority of the game.

“Although we didn’t create as many chances as we’d like today the boys made the most of our opportunities from our set pieces.

“In the second half we started slow which we then paid the price for and that’s something we can’t afford to keep doing in the near future.

“While we aren’t at full strength at the moment we should have a few boys returning from injury soon to bolster the squad for the up and coming rounds,” said Mitchell.

Bombers coach Adrian Pickup gave News Of The Area his assessment of the match as the team entered the second round of the competition.

“Port United started the stronger with Boambee being a bit slow to start again, Port started to pass the ball around and found out how hard that is to do on a very bouncy Ayrshire Park.

“Again the Boambee defence was up to the task and kept any chances that Port created were long shots.

“We grew into the game and once the players passed the ball around the game turned in Boambee’s favour in the second part of the first half.

“Boambee created a few chances and were rewarded for their efforts with another classic headed goal from Luke France.

“From a series of corners, Luke’s header from beyond the far post was a classic France header.

“Once we were one nil up, I expected Boambee to dominate but Port took the game to Boambee but again the defence held strong, half time one nil to Boambee.

“(The ) second half was again end to end but a strong left hand attack saw the number 11 for Port inside the box and a very strong left foot put the ball past the young Boambee keeper, a great strike.

The next period of the game saw both sides continue pushing the ball around without testing either keeper.

An injury to Christian Penny brought on centre forward Tom Frewen for the Bombers, who got his head on the end of a cross, beating all defenders and the keeper to put Boambee team 2-1 up.

“Port again continued to press and had a few chances but again the Boambee team defended well,” Adrian said.

“Yes another win to Boambee but yet again another game that wasn’t up to the standards the players want to play, but the 100% effort again was outstanding,” said Adrian.

Port United coach Nathan Wade was disappointed with the result and thought his side deserved more.

“Very disappointed with the result, we dominated good periods of the game and we played extremely well,” Nathan said.

“They also played well and to their credit their tall guys put two headers in from corners, our team deserved a draw at the very least but sometimes that’s football,” said Nathan.

The three points consolidated Boambee’s position in the top two whereas Port United dropped into fourth position.

Next week the Bombers take on Sawtell in a local derby at Toormina Oval on Saturday 26 June at 3pm.

 

By David WIGLEY