The 2024 regular season is nearing its conclusion for the Northern Inland Premier League clubs as the 18th of 20 rounds kicks off on Saturday, and that means results are more crucial than ever for the teams who are still in the hunt for premierships and finals positions.
There are two blockbuster games in store this weekend as Northern Conference duo Armidale City Westside and Demon Knights battle it out at Rologas Sporting Fields to keep their premiership hopes alive while Southern Conference rivals Tamworth FC and North Companions go head-to-head at Johnson Field in the battle for third place.
There are three other teams entering the weekend ready to line up in must-win matches as well as Moore Creek continue their Southern Conference premiership pursuit, Inverell look to take the lead on the Northern Conference table, and Namoi United fight to stay alive in their hunt for third place in the Southern Conference.
Moore Creek will take on Hillvue Rovers at Riverside Sporting Complex, Inverell travel to Doody Park to challenge East Armidale United, Namoi United meet South United at the Moree Services Field, and the other round 18 clash will see South Armidale United host Norths United at New England Mutual Sportsground.
There will also be a game played on Sunday as Namoi United go up against Hillvue Rovers in a rescheduled round 15 clash. Like Namoi’s match on Saturday, that fixture was scheduled to be played at Hogan Oval in Narrabri, but wet weather has ruled that ground out and the two sides will meet at Cook Oval in Wee Waa.
Oxley Vale Attunga will sit out with the round 18 bye on Saturday following their hard-fought win against Namoi United in round 17. They travelled to Narrabri last Saturday and prevailed 1-0 as a Riley Russell strike in the 33rd minute separated the two sides.
The other round 17 winners were South Armidale United, Inverell, Demon Knights, Moore Creek and South United. The Scorpions beat East Armidale United 7-1, Inverell edged out Armidale City Westside 2-1, DK downed Norths United 5-0, Moore Creek held off a fast-finishing North Companions to prevail 3-2, and South United scored their biggest win of the year when they defeated Hillvue Rovers 6-1, all while Tamworth FC sat out with the bye.
Inverell’s top-of-the-table clash victory against Armidale City Westside had major implications on the Northern Conference premiership race as it allowed Inverell and Demon Knights to move within two points of Westside.
The second and third-placed duo are locked on 33 points as Westside remains on 35 points, but Inverell have the upper hand as they still have three matches remaining and their two rivals only have two games each left to play.
Two of Inverell’s last three games are against the winless East Armidale United, and they are expected to take all six points from those two fixtures. That makes this Saturday’s round 18 clash between Armidale City Westside and Demon Knights even more of a must-win match than it already was as those two teams battle to finish the weekend higher on the table than the other.
Both teams are expected to take three points from their final games of the regular season in round 19, so this Saturday’s clash is essentially a battle to remain in the premiership race, or at worst for second place.
They have already met once this year and it was Westside that prevailed 4-1 when they lined up at Harris Park in round 13, but Demon Knights’ coach Rob James expects a much better showing this time around from his men.
“It’s going to be a great contest. I’m looking forward to it,” James said.
“They’ve got everything to play for and we’ve got everything to play for, and that should make for a good day out.
“We have some big inclusions this weekend; we had a few guys missing when we played them last time. That’s not making excuses because they were definitely the better team on the day by far. But as I said a few weeks ago, I think they would have walked away from that game saying they couldn’t have played any better, and we walked away saying we couldn’t have played any worse.
“We think it will be a lot more even this time around and it should make for a good contest.
“(Final standings) is not something we’ve talked about, but I’m sure everyone has thought about it. It’s a home semi up for grabs and it would be crazy to say that’s not beneficial. But that’s not to say that if we finish third and we go down to Tamworth that we wouldn’t get the result, because I think that we would.
“For us though, it’s more about wanting to roll into the finals knowing we’re playing good football. The result is a secondary factor. If we get into a tough contest and we walk away with a point or we’ve lost, or if we do get the three points, you want to know that you’ve played well above anything else.”
And playing well they have been doing in recent weeks, with the DK men having won three of their past four games. James declared that his side had recaptured their eagerness to compete for everything in every area of the field, which he said they would be doing again this Saturday.
They will need to be at their best when they come up against a determined Armidale City Westside outfit who are looking to bounce back from just their second loss of the season.
Westside’s coach Anthony Gray said his side were disappointed with that result and he conceded that the premiership had most likely slipped through their grasp. He now wants to see a positive response from his team on Saturday.
“Coming up against DK is always a good challenge. They’ve done well as well this year, and I think we’ll both be up for it,” Gray said.
“DK are a physical side and they like to work hard and press.
“We’re coming off a loss against Inverell last week and we’ll be looking to recover and continue our stake in the competition.
“I think that loss last week will result in us missing out on the minor premiership. I don’t see Inverell losing it from here, so I think it’s out of the question. It’s now out of us and DK to finish second.
“We’re disappointed with last weekend. We missed a few chances and an open goal at one point. But it’s also a good reality check to keep us focused on where we’re at in the competition and what we need to do to win it.
“I think when we play our football and don’t get caught up in the way other teams play, that’s when we produce our best football. That will be the instruction this weekend, to go out and do what we’ve been practising all year. If we can put that together, the result should follow.”
Inverell’s clash at Doody Park against East Armidale United will be their first meeting this season after their round 13 clash in July was postponed to Saturday, August 31, when the other Northern Conference teams have a bye and the Southern Conference sides contest their final round.
Inverell are undefeated in their past nine games since they went down against Moore Creek back in round seven in May. They have won seven games since then and they drew the other two to establish themselves as the favourite to finish first in the Northern Conference, but they need to go out and get the job done against an East Armidale United team who are chasing their first win of the year following 13 losses in as many outings.
The other Northern Conference game on Saturday sees South Armidale playing to wrap up fourth spot when they host fifth-placed Norths United at New England Mutual Sportsground.
The Scorpions won the previous encounter 1-0 against Norths at Phil Wheaton Oval and they are coming off a big win against East Armidale last Saturday, so they are full of confidence.
Norths United have lost their past three games and are hoping to snap that streak on Saturday.
The big game in the Southern Conference on Saturday sees Tamworth FC challenge North Companions at Johnson Field. Third place is on the line in this one in what is a must-win game for both teams.
Northies are currently third with 23 points and cannot catch Moore Creek and Oxley Vale Attunga, who are locked at the top with 32 points. Tamworth FC are then ranked fourth with 21 points, so a win on Saturday would see them finish the weekend a point ahead of North Companions with two games in hand on them.
Even if North Companions do win, Tamworth FC are still a great chance of clinching the last finals spot, but the five-point gap would make it a tricky pursuit.
Tamworth FC are in brilliant form of late, having won four of their past five games prior to last Saturday’s round 17 bye, one of which was a 3-2 victory against North Companions at Marius Street Sporting Fields in round 13.
Northies on the other hand have only won one of their past five and they are eager to return to winning ways this Saturday.
The other team involved in the third-place race is Namoi United but they are unlikely to feature in the finals in their first season back in the competition since 2016.
The combined Narrabri/Wee Waa/Moree side are nine points behind North Companions with two games in hand on them, and they must win all four of their remaining games to have a chance of sneaking into third. They are also realistically relying on Tamworth FC and North Companions to have a draw on Saturday.
Namoi United were scheduled to play South United on Saturday and Hillvue Rovers on Sunday in a catch-up game, both at Hogan Oval in Narrabri. That field has been washed out so Saturday’s game will be played at Moree and Sunday’s game is in Wee Waa.
The Namoi men must win both of those matches if they are a chance of playing finals football.
The other Southern Conference match this Saturday sees Hillvue Rovers host Moore Creek at Riverside Sporting Complex.
The Rovers enter this contest hoping to make some ground on South United in the wooden spoon battle as both of those teams are locked on 10 points at the bottom of the table.
Moore Creek on the other hand are ranked first, but only on for and against difference as they and Oxley Vale Attunga both share 32 points. OVA have the bye this weekend and that gives the Mountain Goats a chance to finish round 18 in outright first place. OVA do have a catch-up game to play against Tamworth FC and they both play twice across rounds 19 and 20.
Both of the top-ranked teams could easily win all three of their remaining games and finish on the same number of points and both of them are determined to not be the one that slips up.
That starts on Saturday for Moore Creek as they take on a Hillvue side that they have already beaten this year. That was all the way back in round three when they prevailed 6-2.
While a win is the goal first and foremost for the Mountain Goats, another big challenge for them this Saturday is keeping a clean sheet. They kept four teams scoreless in their first six games this year but have conceded at least one goal in all of their games from round seven onwards.
They have been superb at the other end of the park though as they boast a competition-best goals scored total of 74 from 15 games. That is seven more than Armidale City Westside and 24 more than OVA. Expect a few more from a hungry Mountain Goats outfit on Saturday.
