West Wallsend SFC v Adamstown Rosebud FC
Johnston Park, Saturday 2:30pm
Adamstown Rosebud FC coach Chris Moylan said he and his side are quietly confident heading into their first leg of the promotion/relegation play-off series against West Wallsend SFC at Johnston Park on Saturday afternoon.
The NPL Men’s NNSW side Adamstown will fight for their survival in the top tier competition with HIT106.9 Northern League One defending champions West Wallsend.
This match is the first in a two-leg series, with the second to be played under lights at Adamstown Oval the following Friday.
The winner on aggregate will then meet either Toronto Awaba or Kahibah in the one-off final match at Jack McLaughlan Oval on Saturday, September 7 for a spot in the NPLM NNSW competition in 2025.
Adamstown Rosebud finished 11th on the 12-team NPL NNSW table following two wins, three draws and 17 losses this season.
That saw them accumulate nine points, which was five more than last-placed Lake Macquarie City FC who were automatically relegated.
The Rosebud’s run home was a tough one as they ended the season on a seven-game losing streak, winless in their last nine games and having not scored in their most recent six outings.
Moylan said that not having skipper Dino Fajkovic (suspension) and Zac Griffin (injury) contributed to that run home, but they are both back and ready to fire on Saturday.
The Rosebud’s coach has coached against West Wallsend previously as the South Cardiff boss and is expecting a battle at Johnston Park on Saturday.
“We’re quietly confident as difficult as it is going to Westy,” Moylan said.
“I’ve been out there a few times and it’s a challenging place to go and play football.
“Our boys will be up for it and they’ll know what to expect.
“It’s a two-legged event. You can’t win them in the first leg but you can certainly lose them. You have to go into the game with that mindset.
“We know a little bit about West Wallsend and we think we know what to expect from them. And to be honest, I think we’ll be ready.
West Wallsend was last season’s NL1 champions after beating South Cardiff in a penalty shootout on the grand final day at Johnston Park.
This year they registered 11 wins, five draws and eight losses to finish fourth on the nine-team table with 38 points.
The Bluebells’ coach Bailey Cox described the 2024 campaign has been plagued by injuries, but will have close to a full-strength team available this Saturday.
Cox was disappointed in their 2024 season so far but was eager to turn things around and fight it out against Adamstown.
“I feel like we should have placed higher this year. We lost only one game more than we did last year when we came second, but we had a lot of draws in games we should have won,” Cox said.
“It’s the most injury-ridden year I’ve ever had though. I was making six changes one week and five the next; going from line-up to line-up.
“We had a good run midway through the year and that was when I finally was able to only make one or two changes a week.
“We’re super pumped for this weekend. Promotion has been the goal all year. We weren’t worried about coming first or where we finished in the top four; it was just about getting promoted this year.
“I haven’t seen too much of Adamstown, but from what I have seen and heard they are pretty fit, pretty aggressive, and they’ll go for the full 90 minutes and keep digging in. I’m expecting it to be a physical game.
“I know they finished second-last in the NPL, but they’ll be better than most of the teams in our comp.”
West Wallsend lost their final regular-season match 2-0 away from home against Cessnock last Saturday.
Cox admitted the playing group had one eye on the promotion play-offs series in that contest and they deserved to lose, but he declared the Bluebells would be focused and hungry when they line up at home for the final time this season.
Toronto Awaba FC v Kahibah FC
Lyall Peacock Oval, Sunday 2:30pm
Toronto Awaba FC coach Jarrad Hiles expects an entertaining match-up this weekend when his side welcomes Kahibah FC to Lyall Peacock Oval for the first leg of the promotion/relegation play-off finals series on Sunday afternoon.
There was almost nothing splitting these two HIT106.9 Northern League One rivals this year as they scored a win each and battled out a draw in their three meetings.
Kahibah ended up finishing three points clear of the Stags after 27 rounds as Mat Moncrieff’s men picked up 44 points following 14 wins, two draws and eight losses.
Toronto accumulated 41 points following 11 wins, eight draws and five losses.
Kahibah enters the play-off finals series in red-hot form following back-to-back 7-1 victories in the last two rounds of the season.
The Stags on the other hand are winless in their last three games. They travelled out to Howe Park with an understrength squad for their final regular-season clash last Saturday and drew 1-1 with Singleton Strikers FC.
They will welcome back their top goal-scorer Jarrod Purcell this weekend as well as Flynn Fittler, Damon Green, Peter McPherson and Clancy Muddle, who will all give the side a boost as they look to get on the front foot ahead of the second leg at Kahibah Oval the following Sunday.
Sunday is also the Stags’ last home game of the season and they are determined to treat their fans to one last win at Lyall Peacock Oval in 2024.
Hiles said he was expecting a tough match against a Kahibah outfit that always brings the best out of his players.
“We’re looking forward to it,” Hiles said.
“It’s always very close games between us and Kahibah, and on the day either side can win it. I know we can beat them and I know we can be beaten by them.
“They are always entertaining games between us and there’s always a little bit of spite and feeling in the games. There’s a lot at stake now, so I can’t see anything changing in that regard.
“Kahibah are pretty competitive on the field and their bench is competitive too on the sideline.
“We know we are going to be in for a battle, so we need to limit our mistakes, play some good footy and score some goals.”