Round 12 action in the Broken Hill Soccer Association took place on Sunday at O’Neill Memorial Park where St Joes took on Celtic and West faced Alma.
The women’s A-Grade competition featured a top of the table clash between West and Alma. West regained their three-point buffer at the summit of the women’s standings with a comfortable 4-1 victory, leaving them in prime position to finish the season top of the pile.
“I couldn’t fault a single player,” West women’s coach, George Bugeja, said following the victory.
“The girls have got their season back on track. They’re more committed in training, and they are starting to understand the gameplan I have been trying to implement a little better. The determination of every player has been a level above.”
For Alma, it was an opportunity missed and according to their coach, Codey Ralph, the result will likely see them miss out on clinching top spot come season’s end.
“They were just better in the first half. The second half we weren’t too bad, but we just weren’t good enough to get anything from the game,” Coach Ralph told the Truth.
“I told them prior to the game that we needed to win this fixture, or we are looking like having to play an extra final. Now that has happened, we have accepted that reality and move on accordingly.”
The other fixture between St Joes and Celtic saw St Joes record a 2-0 win, and, remarkably, sees Celtic complete their twelfth game of the season without finding the back of the net.
In the men’s A-Grade, St Joes suffered a surprise loss to Celtic 5-2 and Alma hammered West 8-1. The results leave it tight at the top of the men’s table with St Joes and Alma tied on 22 points, St Joes remain top with their superior goal difference, and Celtic are creeping up behind them on 19 points, meaning just one game separates the top three.
West is still languishing at the bottom of the table on four points, and now that it’s a mathematic impossibility for them to take part in finals this season, it seems George Bugeja’s side can start planning for the 2024 season.
Next week’s fixtures see Celtic take on West, and St Joes and Alma clash across all senior leagues, with all the action kicking off from 12pm Sunday at O’Neill Memorial Park.
WOMEN’S RESULTS
St Joes 2-0 Celtic
Alma 1-4 West
BHSA WOMENS STANDINGS RD 10
| TEAM | MP | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| West | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 96 | 21 | +75 | 28 |
| Alma | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 60 | 25 | +35 | 25 |
| St Joes | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 53 | 25 | +28 | 18 |
| Celtic | 12 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 138 | -138 | 0 |
MEN’S RESULTS
St Joes 2-5 Celtic
Alma 8-1 West
BHSA MEN’S STANDINGS RD 12
| TEAM | MP | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| St Joes | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 55 | 20 | +35 | 22 |
| Alma | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 33 | 13 | +20 | 22 |
| Celtic | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 22 | 28 | -6 | 19 |
| West | 12 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 9 | 58 | -49 | 4 |
