The Northern Inland Premier League’s four-week finals series will get underway this Saturday when the second and third-placed teams take the field in Armidale.
In both grades, the second-placed side from each conference will challenge the team that finished third in the opposite conference in knockout fixtures.
That sees Oxley Vale Attunga challenge Demon Knights at Doody Park and Armidale City Westside host North Companions at Harris Park in first grade, and Moore Creek meet Armidale City Westside at Harris Park and South Armidale United host Hillvue Rovers at Doody Park in reserve grade.
The reserve grade games will get underway from 12.30pm and will be followed by the first grade fixtures from 3pm.
Last season’s first grade premiers and grand finalists, OVA, ended their 2024 regular season campaign in style last weekend as they picked up six points while piling on 14 goals and only conceding one across two games against Southern Conference opponents. They demolished Hillvue Rovers 8-1 in round 20 on Saturday and then cruised past Tamworth FC 6-0 on Sunday in a rescheduled round 15 fixture.
Sunday’s win saw them extend their current winning streak to seven games as they enter the finals series on the back of some super form, having kept five clean sheets in that run while scoring 34 goals.
The Tamworth club only lost three of their 18 games this season, and one of those was against their finals week one opponents Demon Knights as DK prevailed 2-1 back in round seven at the Riverside Sporting Complex.
OVA’s coach Tim Coates is expecting another tight contest between the two sides this Saturday and said his playing group would need to lift as they enter the match missing four key players in Josh Bartlett, Harry Taylor and Matt Crawford, who are all overseas, and the injured Sam Williams.
“We’ll be going in with a patched-up team, but having said that, the guys who have stepped up have done a fantastic job recently,” Coates said.
“In the double header last weekend, we put 14 in and conceded one. The boys are doing a great job.
“We’ll be going to Armidale with no excuses and we’ll do the best with what we’ve got. We’re really looking forward to the journey, although I thought we’d be at home because we finished second.
“Demon Knights are quality,” Coates added.
“They are well-coached and well-drilled. I like the way Rob James has them playing. They have a very good defensive record this year. They are solid across the park with a good goalkeeper, and they’ve got some players who are very experienced and have been together for a while now.
“Demon Knights of the past were always a good side but they weren’t committed, but these guys are committed, so I’m expecting a hard, free-flowing game whereby they’ll be very hard to break down. We’re going to have to be on our A-game to get around their defence.”
Coates gave this year’s competition a big tick of approval and said that youth development had been the highlight at OVA.
“It’s been a really good, tight competition this year,” Coates said.
“We started out not knowing what we had, but we had a whole bunch of kids come in with a 15s/16s team, and I think we’ve debuted seven or eight of those in premier league. Six of them will come into the first and reserve grade squad for the finals too.
“For us, that’s the big-ticket item, not finishing second on the ladder.
“Seeing the senior players embrace the opportunity of getting around them and bringing them on has been fantastic too. Kudos to the senior players because they could have seen them as a threat, but they haven’t, they’ve seen it as an opportunity to grow the talent within our club.”
Demon Knights had the weekend off to freshen up while OVA played 180 minutes of football last Saturday and Sunday, and they are now ready to roll for the knockout rounds.
James’ men enter the finals in good form after winning three of their last four games on the run home, and they ended the regular season as one of the best defensive sides, having only conceded 19 goals across their 17 games.
Their defensive resolve was tested when they played against OVA earlier in the season and they rose to the occasion to earn the three points. They are now determined to get the job done again this Saturday and progress to week two of the finals.
“We’ve been good. Not the finished product, but we can’t ask for much more when we go the first 10 games undefeated and take points off all the Tamworth teams in the comp,” James said of his side’s season.
“We don’t concede too many chances at goal against us, but when we do, the shots come from difficult positions for the other teams. That makes life a little bit easier for our keepers, but that’s not to say we haven’t got work to do, because the other teams have given it to us too. We’ve only been winning by a couple, not by big margins like other teams are.
“I think OVA are a fantastic side and have been for a number of years. This is a danger game for us.
“Looking back at all the games I was there for, OVA was the team that threatened us the most and had the most shots on goal against us. If it wasn’t for our keeper at the time, Izaac Quaife, having an absolute blinder, it might have been a draw or a loss for us that day.
“It’s a big game coming up. We just have to keep doing what we’ve doing, and do it for 90 minutes.
“The boys are happy to be here. We’ve been working hard since January and getting to the finals is a great reward. For that reward to get even bigger, we have to get through this weekend.”
The other first grade finals match this Saturday is also expected to be a tight contest after Armidale City Westside edged out North Companions 2-1 in a fiery and competitive battle back in round nine.
That will suit Westside though, who have grown accustomed to winning the tight ones recently as they finished the regular season with three straight 2-1 victories. They are on a five-game winning streak heading into the finals and they ended the year as the joint-best defensive team alongside Inverell, with both teams conceding just 17 goals in 17 games.
North Companions have only won two of their past five games on the run home but they are ready to make their mark in the finals series.
Coach Dave Johnson said his men deserved to be where they are but would need to start a lot stronger this Saturday against one of the best teams in the competition.
“We’re very excited and the boys are looking forward to Saturday, big time,” Johnson said.
“There have been some missed opportunities for us during the year, but I think we deserve to be in the final six, or the top three in the Southern Conference.
“We’ve been really good finishers in games but not so good starting. We’re a bit slow off the blocks, but our fitness has been good and some of our best work has been done in the last 20 minutes of games.
“Starting slow is a bit of a worry, and this weekend we’re going to mix things up a bit and go out with a different mindset, because we’ll have to start stronger.
“Our lineup is probably the strongest we’ve had all year. There are a couple of niggling injuries but we’ve got everyone back. One of our young guns Tomas (VanRiet) has been away the past couple of weeks, and he’ll come back in and add a lot of spark to the attack.
“Westside are a tough team and they are very talented. They’ve had a really good year. They are a very dangerous team and we respect them fully.
“We lost against them 2-1 this year and it was a fiery game towards the end. One of their blokes got sent off towards the end. We were behind the eight ball most of the game in that one but we came home hard and were a bit unlucky not to square the ledger.”
The winners of this Saturday’s games will progress to week two of the finals series on Saturday, September 14, during which they will play against one another in the minor semi-final.
The premiers from each conference have this weekend off and will meet in the major semi-final at the Gipps Street Sporting Fields in Tamworth in week two.
The winners of the major semi-finals in both grades will automatically qualify through to the September 28 grand final day, with the successful first grade team to host the deciders, while the losers of those games will get a second chance in week three of the finals series on September 21 when they challenge the minor semi-final winners in the preliminary finals.
Inverell and Moore Creek are this year’s first grade premiers.
Inverell marked their return season in the NIPL with two premierships as they finished on top of the Northern Conference table in both first and reserve grade. The club’s first grade side won 13 games, drew three and lost one to finish with 42 points, which was one point more than second-placed Armidale City Westside, while their reserve grade side won 12 matches, drew one and lost four to finish with 37 points, which was also one point more than second-placed South Armidale United.
The two Southern Conference premierships were somehow even tighter as champion clubs Oxley Vale Attunga and Moore Creek pushed each other all the way in both grades and could only be separated by goal difference.
They both won 13 games, drew two and lost three in first grade to finish tied on 41 points as a superior for and against difference saw Moore Creek claim first place, while in reserve grade, OVA won 13 games and lost five and Moore Creek won 12, drew three and lost three as they both ended up tied with 39 points, with OVA claiming top spot on for and against difference.
The 2024 season will go down as one of the most competitive NIPL competitions in recent years, and the finals series is certainly set to entertain from Saturday.
