Abercrombie FC stretched their Bathurst District Football Association men’s first grade winning streak to double figures on Sunday thanks to a gritty 2-0 win over CSU at Proctor Park.

The result of the match was immaterial in the context of the competition in many ways, as the two sides were already guaranteed to square off this Sunday in the major semi-final.

The minor premiership was still up for grabs, however, and a draw for the Stags would have been good enough to hold off the flying Abercrombie team.

A double to Jacob Soetens put paid to that, and gave the men in yellow their first minor title since they formed three years ago.

It also gives them invaluable momentum going into the biggest game in their brief history, having only played one final in the past.

“That was a great effort. The defence was absolutely outstanding and to keep CSU to 1-0 and 2-0 in our last two games against them is a phenomenal effort,” Abercrombie captain Brayden North said afterwards.

“They are an amazing attacking side and their goal difference is about 15 or 20 goals better than everyone else’s, so that shows how well we’ve done against them.

“In the whole back end of the season we had a perfect record, two wins against every other side, so that’s something we can be very proud of.”

To describe the conditions as deplorable would be a compliment, as heavy rain throughout the day ensured the surface was almost impossible to read.

With balls skidding through some areas of the field and completely stopping in others, any well-executed attacking move was deserving of praise. But to their credit, both teams tried to play as fast as possible.

Both teams’ defence was outstanding for the first half an hour and none of the forwards were given any extra space in which to move.

As a consequence, most of the attempts on goal were from long range and only CSU star Chris New-Tolley went particularly close to breaking the deadlock thanks to a hopeful lob that almost beat Abercrombie custodian Tim Daley. 

A long ball just after the 30 minute mark found a flying Soetens, who beat a couple of defenders to the ball and had his first shot blocked before chasing the rebound and calmly netting the opening goal.

The Stags almost hit straight back as a cross from Ibby Bah went in the New-Tolley direction, but he couldn’t quite get boot to ball, and the sides went to the sheds with no further addition to the score.

Play was focused around the middle of the field again in the second half, but when Abercrombie did finally get an opportunity, they didn’t miss out.

From a poorly handled goal-kick, Soetens pounced on a loose ball to double his team’s advantage and put them within sight of top spot on the ladder.

Once more the Stags almost pulled a goal back from the resumption of play, but were turned away by Daley, and Abercrombie were able to shut the game down thereafter and ensure they kept a clean sheet.

Daley and Soetens were outstanding for the winners, but North was rapt with his entire squad.

“It’s a major confidence boost coming into the major semi. We’re two apiece now, so it would be nice to get the upper hand with another win over them,” he said.

“To win that game and do it from where we were when we started out a couple of years ago would just be huge. It is hard to single out any players today. They all played for one another and should be proud of themselves.”

ABERCROMBIE FC 2 (Jacob Soetens 2) defeated CSU STAGS 0