Rovers and Caledonians play out a pulsating draw in inaugural O’Neill-Loveridge testimonial match

Rovers have suffered a blow to their Great Southern Soccer Association men’s division one title hopes despite coming from behind to snatch a draw with the third-placed Caledonians in the inaugural O’Neill-Loveridge match in round eight on Saturday night. The testimonial match was played to honour the legacy of Caledonians stalwart Marty Loveridge and Rovers legend Gary O’Neill and their contributions to their respective clubs over several decades. The match was played in wintry conditions with both sides producing a high-intensity brand of soccer from the first whistle. Caledonians’ Jason Bosch opened the scoring by firing a strike home from inside the box to put his side a goal up early in the contest. Shortly after, Rovers were awarded a penalty and mercurial goal scorer Michael Draper made no mistake, slotting home a well-placed penalty to level the scores. Caledonians earned a spot-kick of their own but were left to lament the missed opportunity as Rovers goalkeeper Will Elms made a terrific diving save just before half time. But defender Chris Wallace bobbed up to head home a pinpoint Jo Love corner, putting his side 2-1 up with under 30 minutes left in the contest. However Rovers’ Tom McKenzie emerged to break the Caledonians hearts, scoring late as the special fixture finished in a 2-2 draw. Caledonians players Beau Timmer and Ben Harris were instrumental in shoring up the midfield while speedy Rovers winger Mohammad Nawroozi caused problems for his opposition all night. Rovers slipped four points adrift of league leaders Polonia as a result of the draw. Caledonians vice-president Harris was awarded the O’Neill-Loveridge award for his man-of-the-match performance at the presentations post-game. Loveridge spoke about his history in the sport, highlighting the rich and positive changes he had seen over the years. “I will always have a special place in my heart for this great club and will never forget my playing and coaching days,” he said. “One of my greatest moments was seeing my children Kieran and Sian playing for Callies and I was lucky enough to coach Kieran for 22 years.”. O’Neill has been involved with Rovers for more than 45 years, joining the club at the age of 12. He noted the significant changes he had seen throughout his involvement over the decades. “There’s a lot more people, with about 140 or 150 people involved with Rovers now and there’s more junior teams, there’s also a huge women’s competition now which is fantastic,” he said. In the other men’s division one fixture, an Oisin Joyce-Piette hat-trick helped Bayswater overcome a defiant Royals outfit. Despite Royals’ Joel Meltevielser scoring a goal in each half, their side slumped to their seventh straight defeat as Bayswater won 3-2. Denmark forfeited their match against Polonia. In men’s division two on Saturday, Polonia defeated Caledonians 3-1, Bayswater ran out convincing winners over Rovers 3-0 and Phoenix eased past the Royals 4-1. In the women’s division one Friday night games, Polonia annihilated Bayswater 21-0, Mt Barker thumped Polonia B 9-0 and Caledonians edged out Phoenix 1-0. In the women’s division two results Royals easily accounted for Polonia with a 6-1 win and Grammar defeated Mt Barker 2-0.