Qualifying Final
Belmont Swansea United v Kahibah FC
Blacksmiths Oval, Saturday 2PM
Mick Stafford wants his Belmont Swansea United side to flick the switch into finals mode when they host Kahibah FC in the qualifying final on Saturday.
Belswans secured a comfortable second-placed finish, six points behind premiers New Lambton and six points ahead of Kahibah.
Belswans have now made the Northern League One finals six times in a row in Stafford’s seven years at the club, excluding last season with no finals played due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stafford has led Belswans to four grand final appearances in their previous five qualifications, with the club crowned champions twice.
Belswans last two matches ended in goalless draws, with Stafford saying complacency needed to be eradicated to have another successful finals campaign.
"I’m very excited about the weekend's game but [we need to be] focused on the job at hand and what we have to do to get the win against a good Kahibah side,” Stafford said.
"Honestly I think from myself to the group we've been in a bit of cruise control because second was wrapped up.
"Semi-final football is completely different to normal round football. So we'll just have to use our experience which we have a lot of in semi-finals with the older heads, plus the young guys who have played a lot of finals football, just to focus and prepare mentally and physically for what I'm expecting to be a pretty tough battle.
"[Kahibah] do have some good players in key areas but we don't focus on tactics or shape work. We're pretty no-frills football, we’ll just focus on being hard to break down and moving the ball forward and that's what we'll continue to do on Saturday.”
Wide midfielder Matty Ellis will be a massive loss for Belmont Swansea. Ellis was involved in the club’s first grand final appearance since their promotion to Northern League One in 2016. But a broken leg suffered in round 18 of the regular season has ruled him out for the rest of the campaign.
"Well there's a big hole to fill firstly with Matty’s broken leg,” Stafford said.
“That's definitely gutted the group, though it has also added a lot of motivation for the boys to push on for him. [Ellis] is a key member and I'm going to have to get some others to step up but they will. Reece Newton, Cameron Sullini, Mark Finlayson and Corey Wilson have all been there and done it and they're prepared to go to battle.
“Once we get over the horrific injury to Matt, I think we've found motivation that we have to get back on track, win it for him and win it for the club.”
While Belswans are the most experienced finals side in recent years, Kahibah are also no strangers.
Since Kahibah’s promotion to Northern League One in 2015, the club have now made finals in five out of the seven years that finals were held.
Despite Belswans beating the Rams 3-1 and 4-2 this season, Kahibah coach Mat Moncrieff holds full belief his side can grind out an upset and line up to face New Lambton in the major semi-final next week.
"[Belswans] have the wood on us this year. For a few years now they've been very hard to beat, especially at their own ground where they play a really rare brand of football,” Moncrieff said.
“We'll have to adapt to their style of football and try and get on top of them. They clearly beat us on the table, so we'll go in as the underdogs and hopefully we can rattle the cage a bit, get under their skin and scourge out a win.”
Kahibah possess one of the more experienced sides in which Moncrieff trusts can drive the passion of finals football into the rest of the side.
"The boys were looking forward to making finals all year,” Moncrieff said.
“Blokes like Robbie Turnbull, Rhys Tippett and a few of the other experienced boys live for this stuff, the finals adrenaline rush. I don't think I need to do anything to get them up for the game, [we just need to] come up with a game plan, come out with a similar attitude against New Lambton a couple of weeks back, execute and take it to one of these big rigs.
"Robbie Turnbull and a few others have come to the club [believing] that we can put a team together that can make finals. We've ticked that box off but now the talk is about what it feels like to be in a grand final. Now we're putting plans in place to see if we can get a few wins on the board over the next few weeks and get to the grand final."
Moncrieff said he knows the style that Belswans play and believes his side need to improvise and adapt if they want to take a surprise victory.
“Obviously their style of football is probably the biggest thing we need to control, which is the AFL type of football, so we need to control that. I've actually talked to the boys about cutting their sleeves off to look like AFL players this weekend when we play against them,” Moncrieff joked.
"Cameron Lodge and Kane Woolston score all their goals so they’re the two that'll be a major concern to us.
"But we know their game plan, so I'm pretty sure it won't change for finals. At the end of the day, they beat us on the table and we've got to take the game to them and hopefully get on top of them early because they've had the wood on us this year.
“Both times they beat us this year, we've never had a squad that looks anything like the squad we're going to play on Saturday. So we can take that little bit of confidence in that we're a different team to when they played us last time."
Kahibah will be without Liam Whitehead due to suspension.
Elimination Final
Singleton Strikers v Toronto Awaba FC
Civic Park, Sunday 2pm
Toronto Awaba will celebrate ending their decade-long finals drought when they make the trip north to Civic Park to face Singleton in the elimination final on Sunday.
Singleton will have to take the long way to the grand final this season after their 1-0 win over West Wallsend on Wednesday night secured their fourth-placed finish.
The Strikers have been in satisfactory form recently, having picked up eight points over the last five games including a dominant 3-1 victory over Toronto Awaba.
The form and inspiration the team possesses is a factor Singleton coach Mick Jarvis does not want to tamper with.
"I probably sound like a broken record but with Toronto, our approach is going to be no different to what it has been the last few weeks,” Jarvis said.
“We're playing a good brand of football and guys believe in it. I know we've got the calibre of player to get the job done, so not much changes for us. The boys have been working hard and have a real belief in what we're doing at the moment, you can see they trust each other and trust the system, so it's not much different for us at all.
"I wouldn't change anything with their attitudes. Their attitude has been bang on. They’ve been getting up for everything and keeping each other accountable. So psychologically I wouldn’t change anything, their head is in the right direction.
"We've got some really good leadership and experienced players in this squad. We're pretty consistent across the park. We get good leadership through the Nicol boys, Barner boys, Cox boys and the boys in the back of the moment are doing a bang up job too.
“Benny Henry [against West Wallsend midweek] was a monster. Everyone will need to step up and do their job but I'm confident because of the number of leaders that we've got within our group."
Despite Singleton’s recent win over Toronto and the Stags’ disappointing recent results only picking up five points from the last five games, Jarvis reiterated his team would not change any of their plans.
"In this competition, every team is dangerous,” Jarvis said.
“Switch off for any given period of time and let your opponents get any sort of momentum and you're up against it. We'll treat [Toronto] just like we treat everybody else. We expect that if we don't turn up with the right attitude, they could do some damage but for us, it's about our concerns and our focus is on what we do and how well we do it and if we do that, then I don't think there is a side in the competition that can go with us.
"It'll be a massive crowd at Civic Park. We've got under-18s in the semis and first grade. It's going to be a huge day.
"We’re just one step closer to lifting up that cup again."
Toronto have not has the best run in to the finals results wise, especially considering the round 18 1-1 draw against a dwindled Thornton side. But Stags coach Jarrad Hiles credits his side’s passion, intensity and effort this season to qualify for the finals, breaking a 10-year drought.
"I’m just proud of the boys for getting this far and looking forward to it. We'll just concentrate on what we can do and what we can control, get up for the weekend and put on a good performance,” Hiles said.
"I think I say it every week, we’ve just got to turn up with the right attitude and the desire to win the one-on-one battles, put in and have a crack at it.
“Singleton beat us in the second round [of fixtures] so we've got to improve and play our footy. It's been a bit hard on the pitches lately but we're still playing some nice football but we’ve just got to tighten up in defence.
“Again, we conceded from a set piece on the weekend which seems to be a bit of a common theme. We’ve just got to tighten up those areas, keep the concentration and deal with long balls in and corners. I'm sure we will, the boys will be up for it as they are pretty excited, there is a good vibe around the club."
The addition of experienced players into a youthful, energetic side this season including Peter McPherson, Scott Smith and Shayne Van As for the first half of the season before his move to Edgeworth was the formula Toronto needed and Hiles is hoping it continues in this do-or-die final.
"I guess the results haven't been quite the same but there's still a good bit of resilience,” Hiles said.
“A couple of the draws we've had, maybe we would have lost them in seasons gone by. But [this season] the work ethic has been great, the effort has been great and we're still playing good footy. It's just a matter of finishing the chances and stopping them at the other end. Pretty simple isn't it, score goals and stop goals.
"You’ve got the experience of Peter McPherson and Scotty Smith who have been there and done that and they're a good influence on the boys, on and off the park. Then you got Jarrad Purcell, who's scored us some goals, including four in the last two games. Nick Roberts, Jacob Dundas, it's a whole team thing really. They're ready to go and just having that little bit of experience will help them big time.
"We have to do it collectively as a group. If you focus too much on one person, it frees up other people to do their thing. We'll just be looking to be nice and compact in defence and use high energy and try and win the ball high up the park, put pressure on and see if we can get some turnovers and go from there."
Premiers New Lambton have the bye. The Eagles will meet the winners of the qualifying final in the major semi-final in week two of the finals.
