Armidale City Westside are on fire to start the 2024 Northern Inland Premier League campaign and they will be looking to continue that this Saturday when they embark on the longest road trip in the competition as they travel to Narrabri to challenge Namoi United at Hogan Oval.
Westside were scheduled to play against East Armidale in round seven at Doody Park last Saturday, but that match was postponed due to storms in Armidale. However, the sides agreed to play the match at the same venue under lights on Wednesday night and Westside stretched their undefeated run to six games when they demolished their cross-town rivals 15-2 to climb back to the top of the Northern Conference table on goal difference.
Demon Knights and Westside entered last weekend locked on 13 points and DK temporarily moved to the top of the Northern Conference when they edged out Oxley Vale Attunga 2-1 away from home at Riverside Sporting Complex.
Moore Creek finished the day in outright first position on the Southern Conference table after becoming the first team to beat competition newcomers Inverell FC. The Mountain Goats travelled to Inverell Sporting Conference for that match and prevailed 5-2 to move to 16 points.
North Companions would have joined OVA on 13 points had they have gotten the job done against Namoi United at Hogan Oval in Narrabri, but the combined Narrabri/Wee Waa/Moree outfit won that match 2-1. That saw Northies remain on 10 points and Namoi United move to seven, and they still have a game in hand on the side they beat in round seven.
At Riverside Sporting Complex, Hillvue Rovers FC scored their first win of the campaign when they downed South United FC 3-2 in the only local derby that was contested on the day.
The other round seven match was scheduled to be played at Phil Wheaton Oval in Armidale between Norths United FC and Tamworth FC, but that match was postponed due to a storm.
South Armidale United sat out with the bye in round seven. The Scorpions will be back in action this Saturday when they host South United at New England Mutual Sportsground, which will be the only game played in Armidale on the day.
Inverell will host Demon Knights at the Inverell Sporting Complex, Namoi United welcome Armidale City Westside to Hogan Oval in Narrabri, and the other three games will be played in Tamworth as OVA host Norths United at Riverside Sporting Complex 4A, Hillvue Rovers and North Companions meet at Riverside Sporting Complex 3A, and East Armidale United travel to challenge Tamworth FC at Gipps Street Sporting Fields.
Moore Creek will not have a chance to add to their six-game unbeaten run until round nine as they sit out with the bye on Saturday.
For Namoi United, the next five rounds are going to be season-defining as they challenge five of the best six sides in the competition. The combined Narrabri/Wee Waa/Moree outfit have had a relatively cruisy reintroduction into the Northern Inland Premier League competition with games against teams that they would expect to beat with a full-strength side at their disposal, with the exception of Inverell who no one will be taking lightly in 2024.
The Namoi United men eased into the campaign with a draw against South United and losses against Inverell and Tamworth FC, but have bounced back with wins against Hillvue Rovers and North Companions since, and their round six match against East Armidale was washed out and rescheduled.
They meet Armidale City Westside this Saturday and their following four games will be against the defending champions South Armidale, the undefeated Demon Knights, the defending premiers Oxley Vale Attunga and the high-flying Moore Creek.
Namoi United’s coach Neil Brayshaw said his side were excited to challenge the best of the best in the competition but declared they would be taking it one game at a time and that all the focus was on this Saturday’s clash against Westside.
Brayshaw has not watched the Armidale outfit play yet this year, but said based on their results so far and going off other coaches’ comments, he was expecting a tough game.
“I’ve heard they’re very strong on the ball, and that’s one of the reasons why they’ve scored so many goals,” Brayshaw said.
“It’s going to be a test. They are the benchmark with the Goats and Inverell and OVA. They haven’t been beaten, so we’ll see how we go.
“They have a lot of players of high quality and I’ve heard they just keep coming at you all game and they back themselves from anywhere to have shots.
“They are going to be very hard to stop, but I back our defence and our midfield to stand up and show our quality against them. We need our guys to back one another and have confidence with the players inside and outside of them.
“I want to see us build on our combinations and passing, be more composed and use the width and the channels that open up.”
The biggest challenge for Namoi United this year was always going to be building combinations and gelling groups of players from three different clubs, and Brayshaw said that was starting to happen.
“I’m very proud of how their gelling,” he said.
“Especially last week, I saw a lot of improvement in their composure as a team and not wanting to go forward all the time.
“I’m looking forward this weekend to seeing where we’re really at, win or lose. It’ll be a good challenge to see how we pull together as a group.”
For Armidale City Westside, Saturday’s road trip is the perfect opportunity to not only extend their undefeated streak to seven games, but also to bond as a unit. Coach Anthony Gray said they will be camping in Narrabri overnight and they were excited to spend some time together as a group away from the pitch.
“It is a big trip but we’ve actually decided we’re going to stay the night at a campsite about 10 kilometres out of Narrabri as a bit of a team-building exercise,” Gray said.
“Eight hours driving in one day is a lot, so we thought we’d spread it out.
“We’ll have a bonfire and a few drinks and enjoy each other’s company. It’s not just about building team culture, but also about building club culture.”
Westside are in red-hot form so far this season. They have won five games and they drew the other one, scoring 39 goals across those six matches and only conceding three.
Gray declared that his side still have a lot of improvement in them and he wants to see them take another step in the right direction on Saturday.
“I’m not too sure what to expect out of the Namoi guys,” Gray said.
“They’ve had some good results, and it’s a bit hard to pick up we’re they’re sitting in the comp. Teams always seem to play better when they’re at home so I’m expecting a tough challenge from them. They’ll be prepared for us and we need to be prepared for them as well.
“We won 15-2 in our catch-up against East Armidale (on Wednesday night). We’re offering plenty going forward at the moment, but we got caught twice on the counter attack because we were busy trying to score. We can’t be doing that; we need to show discipline in our approach.
“Overall, the team is progressing well. We’re still working on some things and still building. We’re not where we want to be yet.”
In Inverell on Saturday, the hosts will be more determined than ever as they look to bounce back from their first loss of the season in round seven. Inverell went down 5-2 against Moore Creek and fell six points behind Armidale City Westside and Demon Knights in the process. However, a win against DK would see them cut that gap to three points and they also have a game in hand.
DK’s 2-1 win over OVA was a major confidence boost as they claimed another significant scalp in 2024. They had already beaten the otherwise-undefeated Moore Creek as well as the 2023 champions South Armidale, and their victory against the 2023 premiers saw them go to the top of the Northern Conference before they were overtaken (on goal difference) on Wednesday night by Westside who joined them on 16 points.
A game that a lot of people are excited for is the clash at New England Mutual Sportsground between South Armidale United and South United on Saturday.
Defending champions South Armidale are looking to find form following four losses from five games to start the season and a bye last weekend.
Likewise, South United are also looking to kick-start their campaign in round eight. They have one win and one draw from seven games so far in 2024 and the top three in the Southern Conference is starting to quickly get away from them, so a win in Armidale on Saturday when boost their finals hopes.
Last season’s top-ranked team OVA have had a slow start to the 2024 campaign by their standards and are looking to get back on track this Saturday on home soil at Riverside Sporting Complex 4A against Norths United. OVA have only won one of their past four games and have only managed one clean sheet from their seven matches so far this season.
For Norths, they have won one game from four attempts and were kept scoreless in their other three matches. They are looking at Saturday’s match as a chance for them to find some form in front of goals against one of the competition powerhouses.
Hillvue Rovers and North Companions will play the only derby match of the weekend when they meet at Riverside Sporting Complex 3A.
Hillvue won their first game of the season last weekend and are looking to continue that momentum, while North Companions lost for just the second time last weekend and are determined to bounce back with a win.
Finally, Tamworth FC and East Armidale will go head-to-head at Gipps Street Sporting Fields in a game described by Tamworth FC’s goalkeeper Owen Rogers as “the battle of the cellar dwellers” in his brilliant weekly column on his Facebook page ‘From Inside The 18 Yard Box – NIPL’. Rogers produces brilliant content each week with interesting insights into the competition and its fixtures, and his page is certainly worth a follow.
Tamworth FC are at the bottom of the Southern Conference table with one win from five games and East Armidale are at the bottom of the Northern Conference table with no wins from four games. Both sides are desperate for a win and that should make for a cracking encounter.