The boys’ teams enjoyed their first full day of tournament play at the immaculate Coffs Coast Synthetics facility yesterday.
It was another entertaining day, with 51 goals flying in as some of the best youth community football teams from across NNSWF’s seven member zones continue to give their all in their quest to be crowned the Champion of Champions.
The sides will now enter the business end of the tournament today as they compete for spots in tomorrow’s finals.
Under-12s Boys: Bucking Bulls finish the day on top of the table
The Iona SC Bulls are flying at this year’s tournament and currently lead the way at the top of the table by six points, having won all three of their games so far.
The Bulls are yet to concede a goal as they followed up Thursday afternoon’s 1-0 victory against Alstonville FC with a 1-0 win over Northern Storm FC on Friday morning and a far more dominant 5-0 win against Coffs City United FC during the afternoon.
Three of the four teams below the Bulls have accumulated three points, making today’s games crucial ones in the race to tomorrow’s first-versus-second final.
Second-placed Bellingen FC and third-placed Alstonville FC both have a game in hand on the table leaders as both have had their bye already.
Alstonville sat out yesterday morning before they scored a come-from-behind 3-2 victory against Northern Storm, and Bellingen kicked off the day with a 2-0 win against Coffs City United before they had the bye in the afternoon.
Coffs City United are sitting last with no points following two losses and a bye, but they can soar into second today if they win both of their games and other results go their way.
There is a great sense of excitement surrounding today’s games as the under-12s Boys teams all battle it out for the chance to play for the championship on Sunday.
Under-13s Boys: Alstonville lead the way after a dominant day’s play
Alstonville FC finished the second day of the boys’ tournament on top of the table with a three-from-three record. After knocking off Valentine 3-1 on Thursday afternoon, they backed that up with a 2-0 win over Norths United FC on Friday morning and continued to build momentum later that day with a 1-0 win against Nelson Bay, the side that defeated them in the 2022 under-12s final.
Just two points behind Alstonville on the eight-team table with seven points are Iona SC Roar and Maitland JFC. The have both won two games and drawn their other, and neither side has conceded a goal at this year’s tournament. The Roar played out a stalemate in the Iona derby against Iona SC Victory on Friday morning while Maitland also drew 0-0 against Coffs City United FC. Maitland then downed Norths United 2-0 in the afternoon while the Roar edged out Coffs City United 1-0.
Valentine is ranked fourth after three matches with four points, all of which they earned on Friday. They kicked off the day with a dominant 5-2 victory over Nelson Bay in the morning and then drew 1-1 with Iona SC Victory during the afternoon.
Like Valentine, Coffs City United have also accumulated four points following a win, a loss and a draw, and the bottom three teams in the division are the Iona SC Victory (2), Norths United (0) and Nelson Bay (0).
The under-13s Boys division will heat up even more on Saturday when 12 matches are contested throughout the day. All eight teams will play three games each, which will leave them with one last pool match on Sunday morning ahead of the first-versus-second final.
Under-14/15s Boys: Alstonville remain undefeated to open up a five-point lead
The two under-14/15s teams that scored victories on Thursday afternoon met on Friday morning as the Alstonville FC under-15s and Coffs City United FC’s under-14s sides went head-to-head. The Alstonville boys continued their winning ways with a dominant 5-1 victory, while the Byron Bay FC under-14s side scored their first win of the tournament as they edged out the Woolgoolga United FC under-15s team 2-1.
Alstonville ensured they would remain on top of the table to end their second day at the tournament as they defeated Woolgoolga United 3-2 during the afternoon to move to nine points, leaving their opposition winless after three games in the process. Woolgoolga United equalised twice during that match before Alstonville’s Charlie Collins netted the winner with four minutes remaining.
Coffs City United and Byron Bay drew 2-2 in the all-under-14s battle yesterday afternoon and both finished the day locked on four points. All four goals in that game were scored during an entertaining first half.
The four under-14/15s teams have now reached the halfway mark. They will play two more matches today ahead of their sixth pool games and the respective finals tomorrow.
Under-16s Boys: Brilliant Bangalow rocking and rolling as Elvis heads home a late winner
The final goal scored on day four of the tournament was a crucial one that saw Bangalow SC head into Saturday on top of the under-16s boys’ table.
Bangalow had a bye earlier in the day following their 1-0 win over Port United FC on Thursday and they took on Coffs Coast Tigers FC yesterday afternoon in their second game of the week. The sides looked set to share a point each as the match was locked at 0-0 late in the contest, but Bangalow’s Elvis Wallace got onto the end of a cross and guided a headed strike into the bottom left corner as his side moved to six points after two games.
Port United FC and Bolwarra Lorn JSC are both close behind on four points following a win and a draw each. Port United has also had one loss while Bolwarra had a bye and now has a game in hand on Port.
After drawing 1-1 against the Tigers on Thursday afternoon, Bolwarra lined up looking for their first win of the tournament yesterday morning when they challenged Bellingen FC. A Noah Robinson goal with less than two minutes left to play saw Bolwarra get the job done before they sat out with the bye during the afternoon.
The other morning match was drawn 0-0 by Port United and Coffs Coast Tigers, and then Port ended the day with a dominant 3-0 victory over Bellingen.
Bellingen are sitting last on the five-team ladder following two losses from as many games, but two wins today would certainly put them in finals contention. With all five sides a chance of reaching tomorrow’s decider, today’s four under-16s Boys games will be well worth the watch.
Explainer: How the Champion of Champions works
The Northern NSW Football Champion of Champions tournament brings together the best youth community football teams from across our seven Member Zones top competitions, to challenge for the title of Champion of Champions in their age group!
In a change to previous formats, in 2023 all clubs are invited to enter any teams currently competing in their Member Zone’s top division and challenge for the title of Champion of Champions.
The final format, number of competing teams and age groups are finalised and advised once all registrations have been received.
More about the 2023 Champion of Champions tournament can be found HERE.
Key Champion of Champions Information:
