Gerringong v United at Gerringong Oval

GERRINGONG and Shoalhaven United will meet in the match of the Shoalhaven Football Association on Saturday at Gerringong Oval and both teams are ready for action.

Gerringong are gradually moving up the table after a slow start to the year.

Gerringong were considered to be one of the favourites at the start of the year and they are now living up to that tag.

Their latest result was a 7-nil win over a depleted Culburra side which is a strong performance.

Gary Vian and Brad Boardman are near unstoppable up front having scored 19 goals between them.

Gerringong coach Craig Farquhar will consider this game against the competition leaders to be of great importance.

He will want good performances from Joel Lockard, Gary Neimier, Steve Franks, Riley Foenander and Andy Lockard.

Shoalhaven United lead the competition by 12 points but they probably haven’t been at their best of late.

It took them until the last minute of play to beat both Huskisson and Shoalhaven Heads.

United coach Trevor Skingle would be happy with their never say die attitude and the fact they play right up to the final whistle.

Josh Argenti, Kaine Good, Tom Moffatt, Matt Fuz and Josh Mackaness have all been good in recent games and Skingle will want everyone at their best in this game.

United won the first round 1-nil and they also came out on top in their second encounter 3-2.

This should be another close game but at home Gerringong should take maximum points.

Bomaderry v Culburra at Bomaderry Oval

BOMADERRY will host Culburra in what is probably their last chance to stay in touch with the top four.

They are currently six points behind fourth place and a loss here will seal their fate.

Bomaderry coach Ben Foley is likely to have his team fired up and will be looking for David Hampton, Cameron Nelson, Blake Munilla, Daniel Frew, Michael Hampton and Brad Bailey to all be at their best. Bomaderry are a better side than their current position on the table suggests and they are sure to cause problems for the top sides in the run to the finals.

Culburra were missing the majority of their side when they were thrashed 7-nil by Gerringong a few weeks ago.

These players are all expected to be back for this game.

Culburra have one of the most potent strike forces in the competition with Corey Ryan, Steve Gray, Jack Miller, Mitchell Blundell and Dale Blundell all clinical in front of goal.

Their loss to Gerringong was their first in eight games and coach Matt Parker will be looking for his side to return to the winners list sooner rather than later.

The first round was a 1-1 draw while Culburra won the second round 5-1.

Culburra will be keen to hold on to second spot and keep the pressure on United so they will win.

Manyana v Huskisson at Manyana Oval

HUSKISSON will be chasing maximum Shoalhaven Football Association points when they play Manyana on Saturday.

Manyana currently sit in fourth spot after only picking up one point from their last three games.

Rumour has it that they were happy that last week’s games were called off as they were missing several players including Rohan Daley and Tim Dixon.

This match is of great importance to Manyana and they will hope to be at full strength with Sam Swann, Billy Zappas, Brandon Perosh, Jackson Daley, Dean Perosh and Matt Ringland all on deck.

Manyana are the defending premiers and they would dearly love to defend their title so they are likely to be at their best.

Huskisson need maximum points from this game if they are to have any chance of featuring in the finals this year.

While a finals position for Huskisson considering their current position may seem fanciful for some it is not impossible.

There are still 18 points on offer and anything can happen. Realistically Huskisson coach Sam Tooley will just be looking to finish the season on a high and pick up some big scalps along the way.

Tooley will be looking for strong performances from Luke Reid, Adam Quinn, Ian Osterloh, Jake Malligan, Tom Reminis and Brendan Hobbs. Manyana won the first round 4-nil while the second encounter was a 5-5 draw.

If Manyana want to play finals football this year they need to win this game.

Illaroo v Heads at Sharman Park

ANOTHER important Shoalhaven Football Association match will be between Illaroo and Shoalhaven Heads.

These two sides are in equal fifth position only one point behind fourth placed Manyana.

Illaroo could have been in fourth position if they had held on against Huskisson in their last start.

It will certainly be an intriguing battle between these three sides for that fourth spot.

Aaron Crittenden is one of the leading scorers in the competition and is likely to cause the Heads defence problems.

Illaroo coach Andrew Timbs will also want good performances from Trent Bray, Slade Small, Evan Leedham, Brendan Kellett, Adam Arnotts and Ryan Bray.

Shoalhaven Heads have been in good form of late with four wins from their last six games.

Their two losses were to the top two placed sides United and Culburra.

Heads are solid side but they don’t have any real superstars and they play as a team and their defence is very tough to breakdown.

Scott Cassidy, Connor Edenden, Iain Martyn, Jai Findlay, Roy Miller, Dane Tasker and Scott Fagerlund have all been in good form of late. Heads coach Brad Banks will be looking for an improvement in their attack and will hope that they are able to find the back of the net with more regularity.

Illaroo won the first round 2-1 while Heads won the return encounter 3-nil.

Both sides will be desperate in this match with the result likely to be a draw.