For the Strikers it was another week of reshuffles in the backs and mids, while up top saw the much anticipated inclusion of Mark Williams back in the Saturday line-up.

Nambucca started the game well, controlling the midfield battle thanks to John Fyfe, Williams and Joe Pettit, and that pressure saw the Strikers draw first blood after build up play from the back line saw Brandan Gregory go on a mazy run through the mids to find young Ben Mander loose on the left who calmly drilled the ball past the Sawtell keeper.

The intensity increased with Nambucca pushing hard going forward with Francisco stretching their back line with his pace down the right wing. His never give up attitude along with Williams’ determination gave Nambucca the second goal as both worked together to find Ethan Usher in the box who calmly finished the opportunity. Ethan didn’t finish there, getting his brace about five minutes later with a bobbling ball finding the bottom left hand corner. It was a solid first half performance from the Strikers who played a calm possession game out from the backs to good effect.

The second half was a polar opposite to the first where the Nambucca squad should have pushed harder for more goals but struggled to get out of first gear for the whole 45 minutes. There were a few chances to extend the lead, but no finishes were clinical enough to find the back of the net. Fyfe hit a screamer that struck the crossbar to then bounce on the line and get cleared by the scrambling Sawtell defence.

Sawtell eventually clawed a goal back from a corner that saw Nambucca’s keeper misread the flight of the ball and punch into his own net. It was the only mistake from Darragh who had a solid game between the posts once again.

At final whistle the lads were happy to keep the pressure on the top three teams with a win but deep down know the scoreline should have been a lot more than 3-1.