Sport
21 April, 2026
Football field full of pre-season games over weekend
The David Wood Field at East Bowral was full of football activity on Saturday with the All-Ages Men and Women’s teams competing for the pre season Liberale Cup, Darryl Kill Cup, Noelene Munro Cup, and All Age Women’s Premier League 2 Chris Jacobs Cup.
The David Wood Field at East Bowral was full of football activity on Saturday with the All-Ages Men and Women’s teams competing for the pre season Liberale Cup, Darryl Kill Cup, Noelene Munro Cup, and All Age Women’s Premier League 2 Chris Jacobs Cup.
The first match was between All Age Mens Premier League 2 club Bundanoon and Robertson, with a tight game played and the result ending up 3-2 to Bundanoon.
Bundanoon coach Len Pentecost was very impressed with his side’s victory, their first in 24 years. It’s also only the third time the club has won the Liberale Cup in their history, with previous victories in 1991 and 2002.
“It was a pretty tight affair, I thought and Bundanoon had the game well under control,” Mr. Pentecost told The Southern Wire.
“At half time we were leading 2-0, but cup finals are always something else and it was a great fight back by Robertson for the result to come back to 2-2. It’s all part of the growth of the club this year – we've got three teams this year including a junior side – 40 players and we’ve got about 20 new players so it’s the ‘kick-off’ for a whole new winter season for Bundy.”
Pentecost also mentioned that Bundanoon was only a tiny club, but they certainly punched above their weight.
“We had a plan to have three teams in 5 years, we’ve actually got 3 teams in just one year so that’s just fantastic,” he said.
“Bundanoon was also the first club in the Highlands to have ‘walking football,’ and that’s a huge initiative so it’s really on the up as a club with a great spirit, and we’ll be off to the Bundanoon Hotel (with all the Brigadoon people!) to celebrate!”
Coach of the losing side, Robertson – Burrawang Rovers, Steve Shepherd, was gracious in defeat.
“We had a few injuries and guys out at the moment, but it was a tight game and Bundanoon did very well,” he said.
“They put us under a bit of pressure, and we could have buckled - but fair play to the boys; in the second half we got back into it with them playing very well. Obviously, it’s disappointing to lose, but in the end, I couldn’t have asked any more from the guys and we’re early in the season with a lot of new guys coming in and playing together for the first time, so promising signs for the year ahead.”
The second major game was the Premier League One game between Bowral and Yerrinbool – Bargo, with Yerrinbool coming away with a 2-1 win.
Yerrinbool - Bargo club manager Drew Cameron told The Southern Wire he was pleased with the result going forward into the coming season.
“It was good watching the boys coming from where they were last year to develop to where they’ve come to now,” he said.
“I’m proud of how they played today. Bowral certainly turned up today, but we showed a lot of resilience to come back from that. We now wait for the Winter draw to come out, and we then start the season in earnest and then hopefully the goal is to take the minor premiership and get into that Grand Final, too.”
Other games played throughout the day were between the All Ages Women Premier League game (competing for the Noelene Munro Cup) between Moss Vale Whites and Hill Top, with Moss Vale coming away with a huge 7-1 win, and the other game (competing for the Chris Jacobs Cup) between the Mittagong Lionesses and Robertson-Burrawang, with Mittagong coming away 4-0 winners.
Lionesses coach Josh Sloboda was very pleased with how his ladies played.
“Every one of the girls here today put in a fantastic performance and I couldn’t be prouder of them all,” he said.
“We had a game plan and we stuck to it. Ever since we started training back in January we’ve gone from strength to strength, and last week we also played magnificently to get to this final and we turned up, showed we could handle it under pressure and going into the season we want to build on that and lay ourselves a great foundation for what’s to come.”
The Under 14’s Moss Vale FC Whites had a massive 10 –1 win against their club counterparts Moss Vale Black, and the All-Ages Men’s Highlands League George Auld Cup game between Yerrinbool-Bargo Green and Exeter, with Yerrinbool-Bargo again coming away with a 2 –1 win.
Finally, in the Under 16s, Bowral ended up 4 – 3 winners against Moss Vale Under 16s, with three goals to Charles Shelley and one to Jonah Klopfer.
