The Maclean Bowling Club Bobcats football team crashed back to earth in the FFNC Premier League when the travelling Byron Bay Rams came away with a 3-1 win. It was arguably the most entertaining game of the season so far and the difference was the clinical way Byron took their chances in front of goal.

The Rams came out of the blocks fast and had the Bobcats on the back foot early. On the 10-minute mark a slip in the wet conditions saw an uncharacteristic fumble from keeper Alex Moffitt that Byron pounce onto and score in an unguarded net. The Bobcats then arrested some of the ascendancy back and the score would remain the same at the half time break.

The free-flowing football from both sides continued after the break and not long after the restart the Byron striker had his second goal, tucking his shot inside the back post. The Maclean side was far from finished and big Fraser Marsh pulled a goal back with a dainty lob over the oncoming Byron keeper to bring the score to 2-1.

Despite being behind on the scoreboard the Bobcats were now the team on the front foot even though Moffitt was forced to make a world class save tipping a goal bound strike out of the top corner. With 5 minutes to go the turning point came as Luke Hanlon appeared to be hampered running onto a through ball, but play on was the call, which enabled the Byron keeper to boot the ball clear that was latched onto by their striker to complete his hat trick and a 3-1 win for his side.

For the Bobcats, Braidy Power-Cassen and Jarrod Doyle were providing the most creativity and were a couple of the Bobcats best.

The wounded Championship side are feeling the effects of missing too many players and were beaten 5-0. The effort could not be faulted, particularly from Palm Jinnawatt for the second week in a row, but the undermanned side was outclassed by a strong Byron outfit.

The news was much better for the men’s Third Division side that guts out a 3-2 win against local rivals Westlawn. Striker Hamish Moran was the standout cashing in with two well taken goals.

On Sunday the Bobcats women’s Premier League side hosted Bangalow. It was a dominant performance from the Bobcats registering a 5-0 win with goals to Emily Loy (2), Rachel Anderson, Caitlin Davies and Holly Sangster. The win keeps them right in the Premiership running in their first year back in the FFNC Premier League.

Next weekend the women’s Premier League are at home at 7pm Friday night against Lismore Thistles while in the men’s Premier League the Bobcats host Goonellabah on Sunday with Championship starting at 12.30pm and the Premier League at 2.30pm.

Steven Gerrard