Weston Workers Bears stifled in 2-2 Adamstown Rosebuds NNSW NPL draw

A youthful outfit with no shortage of raw talent, the Buds had been on a rough run of four consecutive defeats, though they were level in two of those games until the final 15 minutes; against newly promoted New Lambton and ladder leaders Azzurri. In short, the travelling Bears would do well not to underestimate their opposition here.

With an air of poignancy around the ground as the strains of 'The Last Post' rung out, the game's opening exchanges were marked by a similarly sombre complexion as both teams seemed to struggle to make their way out of second gear.

That was until the 13th minute, when the Bears defence failed to adequately deal with a Buds cross and left Ryan Rooke unmarked at the back post; the young attacker made no mistake and converted emphatically to hand the hosts an early lead.

The Bears appeared to collectively retreat into their shell a touch following the setback, but were perhaps slightly unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty as Yuta Konagaya was felled inside the box in the 19th minute.

Despite the scoreline and the relative lack of vigour going forward, the Bears rarely appeared to be under a great deal of pressure, but by the same token the Buds appeared to be maximising the impact of their sporadic forays.

Joey Licata did his best to steer home a cross in the 23rd minute, ultimately earning his side a corner, while Buds youngster Murray Peart was impeded a minute later leading to another penalty shout; this one too was waved away by the man in the middle and with that the officiating ledger was essentially squared in the eyes of the neutral.

A composed build-up from the Bears saw a ten-pass move saw former Bud Aaron Niyonkuru show great poise to evade his marker and finish coolly in the 28th minute, ensuring the ledger was squared on the scoreboard as well.

Mitch Dobson was adjudged rightly to have applied undue force with the hands on the advancing Rooke in the 34th minute, finding his way into the referee's notebook as a result, but the 40-yard free kick was too far out to allow the hosts to threaten and the back post cross was headed innocuously out for a goal kick.

In the 40th, however, Joey O'Connor was unable to clear away a low cross and Peart was on hand to have a crack at goal; his trickling effort saw Gerard Roebuck make a hash of the attempted save and the ball somehow made its way to the back of the net after a few deflections.

The lead was short-lived, though, with Connor Evans producing a magnificent headed equaliser just 18 seconds after the restart, nodding on a superbly weighted chip from Cooper Buswell to restore parity. The remainder of the half saw an even tussle and the sides went to the break locked at 2-2 in a strange half of football where almost every half chance had produced a goal.

The Bears started the second stanza with intent and earnt a corner only 16 seconds after the interval; the initial cross was cleared away before Dobson, in acres of space, pounced on the seconds with his eyes lighting up like a possum in a fusebox and rifled the ball into the stratosphere.

Coach Kew Jaliens had made two changes at the break, introducing Connor Heydon for Alessandro Ouwerkerk and Ben Clouten for Dieuseul Kandundaho, who had been kept relatively quiet by a disciplined Buds defence.

Buswell was collected heavily in the 49th minute as he went up for a header in the middle of the park, and returned to his feet slightly groggily; fortunately he was able to re-enter the fray.

Substitute Clouten was looking positive and moving the ball forward at every opportunity; his 50th minute cross was only a touch behind the on-rushing Evans and was close to opening up the hosts' defence at a crucial juncture, as his acceleration and enterprise were proving difficult to handle.

An excellent run from Heydon in the 53rd minute saw the imposing winger outmuscle his marker and show a deft touch to turn inside and feed the centrally lurking Konagaya, whose low drive fizzed only a few coats of paint wide of the right post with the keeper well beaten.

Jaliens' half-time introductions were proving inspired and the extra burst of energy and intent seemed to be a clear point of difference in general play.

While the second half was proving to be almost entirely one-way traffic, the frustrated contingent of travelling Bears supporters were seeing their side unable to find the critical breakthrough for the go-ahead goal.

A cheeky dink from Liam Wilson in the 67th minute on the edge of the box floated just over the bar, while Heydon raced away two minutes later only for the bounce of the ball to scupper him at the last moment, eventually cannoning his strike into an adjacent suburb from close range at an acute angle.

Perhaps the afternoon's most desperately unfortunate moment came in the 70th minute, as a delightful piece of interplay between Konagaya and Evans inside the box saw the former slam his shot against the underside of the crossbar with the keeper well beaten, only for the ball to bounce back out off the goal line.

A positive move in the 75th minute from Clouten petered out as he opted to shoot despite having a few options at his disposal inside the box.

A Heydon through ball saw Wilson attempt to replicate the Rooney-Van Persie combo against Aston Villa several years back, but to significantly lesser effect as the connection was lacking in horizontal momentum and ballooned up above the target.

Niyonkuru galloped into the box in the 81st minute to take possession of the ball on his chest, riding a couple of challenges as the ball bounced around, only for it to fall agonisingly out of his grasp at the crucial juncture.

Heydon went close to grabbing the winner in the 83rd minute as Evans' back post cross saw the former's volley skewed slightly away from an acute angle.

A 30 yard free kick opportunity fell the way of the Bears in the 85th minute, but Niyonkuru's low drive lacked venom and was dealt with comfortably by a well-sighted Tom Jenkin in between the sticks for the Buds; Jenkin had turned in a fine display with eight saves made throughout the afternoon.

Niyonkuru would then stroke an 18 yard effort just wide of the right post in the 88th minute. The remainder of the contest saw the Bears continue to push forward in numbers, only to be repelled by a resolute Buds defence who dedicated themselves admirably to the task at hand.

The full time whistle blew after five minutes of stoppage time with the scores somehow locked at 2-2, and it would be difficult for the visitors to have seen the trip as anything other than two point dropped.

They now find themselves very much back amongst the pack, with only a three point buffer between themselves and Broadmeadow in the last finals berth.

Though it is still very early days in the campaign, the Bears will be extra motivated to avoid Sunday's trip to Speers Point becoming another banana skin after having picked up four wins and a draw against last season's top six sides to open 2023, as they take on a struggling Lake Macquarie side who lie bottom of the ladder with just one point accrued from their opening six fixtures.