SAWTELL tightened its grip on third place in the HIT105.5 Men’s Premier League with a gritty 3-1 victory over Maclean in rain-lashed conditions at Toormina Oval on Saturday night.
With finals positions on the line, Maclean made the perfect start when Coby Tabor chipped the goalkeeper from close range to give the visitors an early lead.
Sawtell’s response was immediate.
Keeden Corliss restored parity just two minutes later before Brad Clancy produced the moment of the match in the 21st minute, cutting inside onto his left foot and curling a superb strike into the far corner to hand the home side a 2-1 lead.
The hosts took that advantage into half-time before the contest became a midfield battle as driving rain and a howling southerly made attacking football increasingly difficult.
Maclean continued to press after the break, but Sawtell’s defence stood firm before Luke France wrapped up the result with two minutes remaining, finishing off a late attacking move to seal an important three points.
The victory consolidated Sawtell’s hold on third place, opening a three-point gap over fourth-placed Maclean and extending its advantage to four points over fifth-placed Yamba with five rounds remaining.
Sawtell assistant coach Rod Buckle said the match had been earmarked as a pivotal fixture in the run to the finals.
“[A very] important three points for us and a game that has been on our radar for a couple of weeks given our and Macleans positions on the ladder,” Buckle said.
“We have lost a couple of players for the season recently but the rest of the boys are aiming up.
“We spoke about resilience in the sheds pre kick off and with sideways rain and a howling southerly it was certainly something we had to display.
“A defensive mistake right at the start could have been costly but we re-focused and played some good football for the rest of the first half.
“We found some space out wide and our wide guys were able to exploit that.
“Full credit to Maclean who came out hard at us after the break.
“The boys rallied though in tough conditions in the second half as the weather deteriorated.
“We just couldn’t get that third one to put them away until right at the end.”
“It was a real team effort,” concluded Buckle.
By David WIGLEY
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