NNSW NPL: Adamstown Rosebud snatch point as Weston Bears hiccups continue

Their ladder position of 10th was perhaps a touch deceptive from a form standpoint, having split their last four games with wins over Newcastle Olympic and New Lambton and succumbed to razor-thin defeats to top three sides Charlestown Azzurri and Lambton Jaffas.

The prior meeting between these two sides saw a wasteful Weston held to a 2-2 away draw, and those out of the coalfields camp knew not to take their opposition lightly, lest a late-season collapse - which has worryingly become almost customary in recent years - come to fruition once more.

Indeed it appeared the hosts were in no mood to simply cruise through the contest, starting brightly and showing early intent with the ball at their feet as attacking opportunities were materialising thick and fast.

A promising 5th minute move saw Yuta Konagaya gallop to the byline and cut back for Cooper Buswell, whose strike lacked finesse and was blasted well over the bar. Buswell was involved again two minutes later, bringing down a lob from skipper Chris Hurley with a superb piece of chest control into the path of Aaron Niyonkuru; though the ensuing strike was not short on power, Niyonkuru was unable to keep the ball down and Buds keeper Nick Hartnett was still yet to be troubled.

Niyonkuru's enterprise saw him release Konagaya in the 8th minute after a blocked strike; again the Japanese import advanced to the byline and cut into Buswell's path but again the strike was scuffed and failed to find the target. Connor Heydon got himself into an excellent position in the 13th minute as he latched onto a well-weighted Konagaya through ball and beat his marker, but his travails were curtailed by the linesman's flag, offside by the barest of margins.

A 16th minute foray saw Konagaya feed Heydon once more; his partially blocked strike fell into the path of Connor Evans, whose attempt from an acute angle was saved by Hartnett with Heydon lurking close by in search of potential scraps. The first half-chance for the visitors came two minutes later, as Oliver Rich controlled the ball on the turn with what looked to be a hint of hand, playing through veteran striker Dino Fajkovic - one of only three players over 22 in the starting XI of the talented young outfit - only for him to fluff his lines and pull his strike wide of the target.

The weight of offence in the hosts' favour would finally tell in the 19th minute, as Niyonkuru deftly skipped away from two markers and slotted the ball home despite a strong touch from the outstretched glove of Hartnett. It was no less than they had deserved on the balance of play, though they would no doubt be keen to extend the slender scoreboard advantage.

Niyonkuru was nearly in again in the 22nd minute, creating space for himself inside the box and dancing away from the Buds defence only for a slightly heavy touch to bring them back into the equation with his shot ultimately blocked. Buswell cleverly crafted an opportunity for Paul Sichalwe a minute later, dinking a chip over the defensive line only for Hartnett to rush off his line in the nick of time and grab the loose ball in a 50/50 that saw him collected by Sichalwe as the holding midfielder made a play at the ball.

The Bears seemed to settle into a rhythm of control, dialing back the frenetic volume of attacks in favour of a slower building, possession-based strategy. They were composed on the ball and had their opponents more often than not on the back foot and seemingly short on ideas of how to drag themselves back into the contest. But as has so often happened throughout this campaign for Weston, they were stung totally against the run of play, this time in the 37th minute as the wily Fajkovic gratefully collected a through ball up the middle of the park from Mackenzie Alexander, rolled his marker and tucked the ball past Bears keeper Ethan Gunther for an inch-perfect finish.

In isolation it was almost incomprehensible that the Bears had managed to concede, but such defensive lapses had become an all too familiar occurrence for the Rockwell Automation Park faithful and all of a sudden the fruits of their prior labour had dried up in the blink of an eye. The Buds had their tails up, showing a sense of impetus hitherto absent from their play on the afternoon. Konagaya had a crack from outside the box in the 42nd minute, his daisycutter rolling wide of the right post, before Heydon had a trickling effort from out wide saved a few moments later and Liam Wilson headed a bouncing Konagaya cross straight into the palms of Hartnett, but the assured tempo of the hosts' play had been replaced by a slightly rushed quality.

Another Heydon attempt that lacked power was comfortably dealt with by Hartnett in the 45th minute, but there would be no such issue converting at the other end only moments afterwards as Joey Licata did well to escape a tug of the shirt from Joey O'Connor out wide, feeding 'Johnny on the spot' Fajkovic inside the box, who finished clinically with his first touch past a diving Gunther to hand the visitors the lead in what felt like a smash and grab operation. To their utmost credit, they were up for the fight and displayed an alertness and intensity in attack that the Bears had not matched thus far despite their volume of attacking raids. It would be the last action of a rather staggering first half of football.

One can only imagine the spirit of Bears manager Kew Jaliens' halftime talk; he needed to rouse his troops from their lackadaisical slumber and there was no time to waste. The opening exchanges of the second half spoke to at least a modicum of success in that regard; an early burst forward saw Buswell play through Heydon, who drew a strong stop from Hartnett less than three minutes after the interval. A low drive from Joel Hogan at the other end that looked to be an attempted cross saw the proactive Gunther get down quickly to parry the ball away, but it went only as far as Rich, who had only a split second to react and knew very little about his ricocheted follow up attempt that looped only narrowly wide of the post from point-blank range in the 49th minute.

Fajkovic turned provider in the 53rd minute, squaring up for Licata who was denied only by a superb covering tackle from substitute Alessandro Ouwerkerk. The subsequent in-swinging corner from Ryan Rooke provided Gunther with a few headaches, caught on the hop as he tipped the ball onto the bar. Evans tried his luck at the other end in the 55th minute, collecting a short corner that had been cut back to him outside the box, but his chip floated harmlessly wide of the far post. Jaliens went to his bench once more in the 57th minute, Ben Clouten on for Wilson; a Pontiac GTO for a Rolls Royce Phantom.

Clouten, as he invariably does, quickly made his mark on the game. His hustle and bustle brand of football served to suffocate the Buds and starve them of time on the ball, which proved the catalyst for a number of turnovers in possession in the Bears' favour. Konagaya had a low strike saved in the 63rd minute before rounding Hartnett a minute later only to blaze his strike wide of the mark with an open goal at his mercy, spurning what looked almost a certain equaliser. Sichalwe was then replaced by Jacob Dundas, who looked to add some further energy and industry to the hosts' play.

Konagaya's 66th minute cross towards Clouten was a touch too high to direct a header downwards, but Niyonkuru's delivery two minutes later was pinpoint, allowing Clouten to bury a brilliant header at the front post and level things up. It had been an inspired change by Jaliens, turning the balance of the contest back in Weston's favour and setting the salivating home fans up for a fast finish as their charges ventured forth in search of a winner.

Much of the closing stages of the game saw the Bears virtually camped inside their opposition's final third. To the visitors' credit, they were well organised in defence and proved able to consistently break down attacks before a shot on goal could be fashioned. A last-man shirt pull on Clouten in the 79th minute led to some slightly tepid shouts for a well-positioned free kick, while a curling Niyonkuru effort from the edge of the box a minute later whistled only just past the top corner.

Konagaya got the ball caught under his feet in the 81st minute in an excellent position, but recovered just enough to lay it off for Evans; the Yardbirds-esque midfielder was a touch casual with his strike, though, and drilled it low straight into the gloves of Hartnett. Niyonkuru's 89th minute attempt was blocked, and indeed the clock was fast becoming the Bears' enemy. Fajkovic produced a decent attempt from out wide after a physical tussle with Dundas, but Gunther did not need to break a sweat, catching with ease.

The final roll of the dice for the hosts came in the first minute of stoppage time, as the latter of a pair of Niyonkuru corners bobbled around in the box, with substitute Lucas Straker's blocked effort rebounding into a dangerous area, until the referee adjudged that a foul had been committed on Hogan and play was swiftly pulled up. A dithering Dundas was caught in a rare moment of ponderousness in defence, dispossessed by Rich in a potentially threatening position; the youngster, though, lacked composure and snatched at his strike, skewing it well wide of the target. After six minutes of stoppage time, the full time whistle blew with the Bears still frustratingly deadlocked at two goals apiece.

There were some odd similarities here to the sides' first encounter this season; a 2-2 result, with the Bears scoring the final - and equalising - goal a long way from the end and pushing for the win without ever quite landing the decisive blow, while the Buds exhibited excellent covering defence and took their chances superbly. The Bears have now slumped to an unprecedented run of four winless games - all at home, as if any more salt needed to be rubbed into the wound - and face the very real prospect of missing out on finals football entirely if they fail to right the ship.

The final home game of the Bears' season will take place on Sunday afternoon as bottom side Lake Macquarie come to town in what can only be described as a must-win fixture should Jaliens' men wish to keep the glimmer of silverware alive. They will need to arrest the trends of both failing to convert pressure into scoreboard dominance and switching off at crucial defensive junctures, but they most certainly have the personnel to do so and there is no reason to believe these men are not capable of finishing the season on a high and making a first finals appearance since 2014.

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