The 2 sides have met twice already this season with the Bears running out convincing winners both times 6-2 and 7-1. Early goals were scored by the Bears in both these games and things looked like a repeat was on the cards when Nathan Morris forced a diving save that rebounded off the crossbar from a long range free kick in only the 6th min.
Robbie Turnbull almost scored 5 minutes later from a difficult chance when he did extremely well to get to a volley, but his effort failed to hit the target.
The Bears continued to pressure the Awaba goal with much of the game camped in the Awaba's half. All this possession amounted to nothing after 22 minutes when Awaba capitalised on a poor attacking option and belted the ball up field to catch the Bears out on a counter attack then fire a shot past Bears keeper Tim Pratt to open the scoring 0-1.
The Awaba defence continued to repel many an attack from the Bears but it was their keeper who kept the Bears behind on the scoreboard when he made a fantastic save to deny Mick Ryan in the 39th min.
Rhys Tippett was the replacement in the starting line up for the injured club captain Chris Cousins and he put the Bears back on level terms with the last touch of the first half. Tippett climbed perfectly and headed home from a Nathan Morris corner to give the Awaba keeper no chance.
Tippett started the new half with a great run wide on the left in the 48th min. He then played a fantastic ball into the middle for Jamie Subat to smash his shot goal bound which beat the Awaba keeper, only to see a defender somehow get in the way and the ball was cleared.
Mick Holt was next to have an opportunity to put the Bears in front 4 minutes after Subat's chance. Holt made a great run to get on the end of the crossed ball but his stretching volley flew high over the bar from close range.
It was starting to look like one of those games for the Bears until Rob Macbeth stepped up and found the net after 67 mins to give the Bears a deserved 2-1 lead.
Chances continued to flow for the Bears with 3 great opportunities in the next 6 minutes. The hard working Rhys Tippett had the first of these chances, Tippet showed plenty of strength and shrugged off his defender to run onto a Turnbull clearance but fired his shot in the side netting. The next was a perfectly placed Morris free kick that was somehow missed by everybody as it flew across the goal mouth. Jamie Subat rounded out the final of the chances when he headed over the bar from an excellent Robbie Turnbull ball.
The remainder of the match saw the Bears controlling the play but failing to add to the lead against the bottom placed Awaba and the score ended with a 2-1 win for the Bears.
U/23's season continues to slip away with a 0-2 loss against an Awaba side that until this game had yet to win a point. The Bears should have been 3 or 4 up early in the match and their poor finish in front of goal was only compounded by 2 lapses in defence that cost 2 goals.
U/18's promising start to the season is also in danger of slipping away after a loss to the bottom placed Toronto Awaba. The young Bears were ahead 2-0 and creating many of chances before throwing the match away and conceding 3 goals. Sam Turnbull and Tim Gleeson found the net for the Bears.
The Bears travel over the Blue Gum to take on West Wallsend on Wednesday night in the deferred round 15 match. Westy are only 2 points behind the Bears so a win would give the Bears some breathing space but a loss would see the Bears give up their competition lead. The busy week then continues with a trip to Broadmeadow Magic's Wanderers Oval on Sunday.
C'MON YOU BEARS!!!!!!
