City drop-zone free

By Gavin Staindl
THE Berwick City Soccer Club will live to survive another day after the young reds avoided relegation with a decisive 3-1 win over the Waverley Wanderers.
For 90 minutes, the future of the Division Three soccer club rested with the performance of Tom O’Halloran’s makeshift side – and they didn’t disappoint.
Needing a win to guarantee another year in the state league, Berwick, at times, looked shaky and appeared vulnerable when transitioning from defence to offence.
But three goals, including a sealer in the final minutes, secured Berwick’s fate, much to the delight of the relieved home crowd at Jack Thomas Reserve.
James Ashby kicked off proceedings with a goal in the opening five minutes before soft marking allowed the Wanderers to equalise minutes from half time. But Ashby wasn’t to be denied and drew a deserved penalty, which veteran Karl Cochrane slotted up the middle to return the lead to the home side.
If Ashby had set up the win then Craig Johnston saved it.
Johnston not only made a courageous diving slide deep in his side’s own box to prevent the run of a Wanderers opponent, but sealed the win moments later with a goal.
At that moment, any fears Berwick fans had of back-to-back relegations turned to jubilation. A comment was made by a spectator that “they’re celebrating like they’ve been promoted.”
But for Berwick, this was their promotion. Of the 17-man side, 11 players are aged under 20, and as O’Halloran pointed out, Berwick needed to tough this season out.
“We just had to stay up,” O’Halloran said. “Because of injuries and other reasons, we’ve given a lot of game time to our kids and they’ll be better for it.
“We’ll be better for it.”
MEANWHILE, Doveton topped off a successful return to Division Three with a 4-0 win over Frankston Pines, which included a hat-trick to Ash Jonathon.
Division Two side Casey Comets ended a dismal second half of the season with a 1-0 loss to Knox City at Comets Stadium.
At the start of July the Comets were in a group of four front-runners leading the league, but Casey’s promising start turned to tatters as they produced only one win from the final 11 games.
Provisional Two side Casey Kings avoided relegation with a 2-1 win over Endeavour United at Betula Park.
At the start of the month, Casey appeared destined for relegation, but after snatching 11 points from its final five games, avoided the dreaded drop zone by four points and retained its spot in Provisional Two.