Round 16 of the Northern Inland Premier League campaign will see most teams return to the field after nearly the entire day’s play last Saturday was wiped out by wet weather.
There was only one round 15 match played as scheduled, which saw Inverell register a 3-1 home ground victory against Demon Knights, while all other games were washed out and postponed.
South Armidale United and Armidale City Westside managed to get their game played on Tuesday night and it was Westside that prevailed under lights as they ran away to score a 7-2 victory.
All other round 15 matches will be played between now and the end of the season.
Westside’s victory saw them go five points clear at the top of the Northern Conference table as the moved to 32 points and Demon Knights remained on 27. DK’s loss saw them slip to third as they were joined on 27 by Inverell, who overtook them on for and against difference to finish last weekend in second place.
South Armidale’s loss on Tuesday saw them remain on 18 points and finish the night nine points behind Inverell and DK in fourth spot. With just four matches left to play, their finals hopes have taken a huge hit as they now need to pick up maximum points on the run home and also required Inverell or DK to lose all of their matches, which given their form this season seems highly unlikely.
Demon Knights can end the defending champions’ finals hopes once and for all on Sunday when South Armidale host their Armidale rivals at New England Mutual Sportsground.
The other Northern Conference tussles see Armidale City Westside host East Armidale United at Harris Park and Inverell welcome Norths United to the Inverell Sporting Complex.
While the battle for the Northern Conference premiership is going to be an intriguing one as the top three teams all remain in the hunt for first place, the Southern Conference finals race is even more captivating as two teams battle for the Minor Premiership and three teams compete for third place.
Moore Creek and Oxley Vale Attunga are first and second, respectively, locked on 26 points, while North Companions (20) make up the top three and Tamworth FC (18) and Namoi United (14) remain in the finals hunt. Hillvue Rovers (10) and Souths United (7) are both out of contention.
The round 16 Southern Conference fixtures will see Tamworth FC host Namoi United at Gipps Street Sporting Fields, North Companions and Oxley Vale Attunga go head-to-head at Marius Street Sporting Fields, and South United challenge Moore Creek at Riverside Sporting Complex, while Hillvue Rovers sit out with the bye.
Namoi United’s trip to Gipps Street on Saturday will see them attempt to close the gap between themselves and Tamworth FC to one point and also North Companions to three points. That would be a major boost to their finals hopes, especially given they have a game in hand on the teams ahead of them.
The combined Narrabri/Wee Waa/Moree outfit were beaten 2-1 at home against Tamworth FC back in April but were missing a handful of players that day, including their leading goal-scorer Cooper Brayshaw.
With everyone available except David Avery on Saturday they are determined to flip that result and keep their top-three aspirations alive, and their coach Neil Brayshaw labelled it as a must-win game for his men.
“Tamworth FC have a good striker up front with a good left foot, so we have to make sure we don’t give him any space,” Brayshaw said.
“They are a very good team defensively, and they are having a good season. They are just two points behind North Companions now.
“But we just need to worry about our game. The way we have been playing over the last month has been pretty great to watch.
“We need to back each other and get the job done in a game that is really important to win. It would really set us up going forward.
“We’re four points behind Tamworth FC and six behind North Companions, so a win is vital to stay in touch with those two sides.”
Namoi United have won their past two matches and are looking to make it three on the trot for the first time since rejoining the Northern Inland Premier League this season.
Tamworth FC have been one of the big improvers in the competition this year. They have won five of their past eight games to put themselves in a position to rise to third place if they win on Saturday and North Companions lose.
Regardless of whether they are third or fourth on Saturday night, they have come a long way for a team that lost four of their first five games in 2024, and they now have their sights set on finals football.
At Marius Street Sporting Fields, Oxley Vale Attunga and North Companions will reignite their rivalry when they meet for the first time since round three. OVA prevailed 4-1 that day at Riverside Sporting Complex, which upon reflection is an even more impressive result than it seemed at the time given Northies have conceded the least number of goals of teams in the Southern Conference.
While the premiership battle looks destined to be fought out between Moore Creek and OVA, Northies are still a mathematical chance of finishing on top of the table and they are well aware that they need to win on Saturday to remain in the hunt.
They are also aware that a loss could see them fall out of the top three all together as Tamworth FC sit hot on their heels.
“It’s been a great competition this year and there have been no easy games at all,” North Companions’ coach David Johnson said.
“It’s great to see and it keeps you on your toes. The two conferences have been a great concept and it’s really good to see so many teams in the competition.
“We’re confident that we can get that third place or even second place.
“We have a good strong team available for this weekend, so there’ll be no excuses for us. We’re expecting a very, very close game against OVA and we’re going into the game feeling fairly confident that we might surprise them.
“We’ve been training well, and the boys are really up for this game. These are the games you want to play; you want to play the good teams to see where you’re at going into the back-end of the season.
“We’re excited and we can’t wait to play.”
OVA’s coach Tim Coates is expecting a tough match from North Companions and declared he was looking forward to the tactical battle ahead.
“They have put themselves in a position to play finals football. They have a great group of young players that have been assembled by David Johnson,” Coates said.
“We’re really looking forward to the tactical battle.
“The last time we played them was very early on in the year and they were still finding their feet. I wouldn’t use that as a yard stick at all. It’s a clean sheet now and we’re expecting a tough game against a quality opponent.”
As far as the premiership battle is concerned, Coates said he was simply focused on OVA doing what is in their control during the final five rounds of the campaign.
“What the other teams do is what the other teams do. We’re just focused on what we can control,” he said.
“We will be looking to do well in every game and qualify for finals football.”