Apollo headed to Naracoorte on Sunday and came away with the three points in a solid win over Naracoorte United.
Naracoorte did well to hold off Apollo’s attack early on, however it did not last as Caine Ellis scored the opening goal for Apollo.
Apollo were given a penalty soon after with Billy Pearce stepping up to give Apollo a two goal lead.
Naracoorte worked to slow down Apollo as the half progressed, looking to keep it a two goal game heading into the break.
But Apollo kept applying the pressure as Ellis scored another goal just before the end of the half to give Apollo a three goal lead.
When play resumed Apollo took a blow when Pearce was shown two yellow cards early on which resulted in Apollo playing with a man down for most of the second half.
Naracoorte could not capitalise on the opportunity as Apollo refused to let the red card affect them as Pa Lah and Eh Hsa Poe both scored to seal the victory for Apollo.
Apollo defeated Naracoorte United 5-0.
Gambier Centrals v Blue Lake
Centrals picked up a well needed three points against Blue Lake in a thrilling match on Sunday.
Centrals started strong with Jake Blackwell scoring the opening goal, but their lead did not last long as Shar Nay Than responded right after to tie the game up.
The Rangers then made a crucial error as Ler Kler Moo scored an own goal to hand the lead back to Centrals.
Centrals applied the pressure, with Blackwell striking again to open up a two goal lead, which they took into the break.
In the second half Centrals did well to hold off Blue Lake, as the scoring dried up for the majority of the minutes.
Blue Lake finally broke through Centrals’ defence as Shar Ku Htoo scored a late goal to cut it to a one goal lead.
However Centrals had done enough to hold off the Rangers and picked up a crucial three points as the fight for the second place position on the ladder begins to heat up.
Centrals defeated Blue Lake 3-2.
Club president Shane Dycer said he was pleased that Centrals picked up the three points, especially given how competitive the fight for a top four spot had been this season.
“We set ourselves to get this win, we were really disappointed last week in not getting over the top of Apollo, we thought that if we lost this week it would have made the gap to second and third that much harder with a round to go it would have been a struggle,” he said.
Dycer was impressed with the performance of captain Jake Blackwell along with several younger players in the side.
“Jake Blackwell, our captain, led from the front, I thought Jake was excellent and was involved in all three goals,” he said.
“One of our under 17s Nico Teodoro got his first start in seniors, as a 15-year-old he controlled the middle of the park and played a really good game.
“There was also Alex Obedi, another under 17, who played up on the wing, again a 16-year-old kid played a fantastic game.”
