It may be a wet and miserable weekend across the region but the race to the Northern Inland Premier League finals series is well and truly heating up with just six rounds remaining.
Round 14 winners last Saturday were Oxley Vale Attunga, Tamworth FC, Namoi FC and Demon Knights. OVA demolished Hillvue Rovers 8-2 at Riverside Sporting Complex, Tamworth FC beat South Armidale United 4-1 at Gipps Street Sporting Fields, Namoi United edged out Norths United 2-1 at Hogan Oval, and DK accounted for East Armidale United 4-1 at Rologas Sporting Fields, while the other match saw top-ranked duo Moore Creek and Armidale City Westside contest a 1-all draw Doody Park.
South Armidale United then hosted Hillvue Rovers in a rescheduled round 13 match at New England Mutual Sportsground on Sunday and the home side prevailed 3-2.
Those results saw Moore Creek remain on top of the Southern Conference table with 26 points, but they now only lead by for and against difference as OVA joined them on 26. North Companions round out the top three with 20 points, and Tamworth FC (18), Namoi United (14), Hillvue Rovers (10) and South United (7) make up the bottom four.
Armidale City Westside are on top of the Northern Conference table with 29 points, and their lead is now just two points after Demon Knights rose to 27 to go second. Inverell (24) are now third, and the bottom three are still South Armidale United (18), Norths United (12) and East Armidale United (0).
Headlining round 15 is an epic Match of the Round clash between Northern Conference heavyweights Inverell and Demon Knights. That game will be contested at Inverell Sporting Complex and is the game most likely to beat the rain and go ahead.
With Westside’s match washed out, the fixture at Inverell Sporting Complex gives Demon Knights the chance to finish the weekend ranked first on the Northern Conference table, but they can also drop to third if Inverell can score a victory that would see them rise to second place.
This season has been an impressive one for both Inverell and Demon Knights. They have lost just one game each and their defensive records are exemplary so far. Three points is all that separates them as DK have played one more game than Inverell.
When the two sides met earlier in the season at the Inverell Sporting Complex in round eight, they contested a hard-fought 1-all draw. They both had their chances that day but were forced to settle for a point each.
They are now both determined to get the job done and score an important win in their battle to claim the Northern Conference premiership.
Demon Knights’ coach Rob James will miss the round 15 clash but is confident that his men can take home the three points if they pack their shooting boots for the road trip.
“We just need to put the ball in the back of the net,” James said when asked how his side can get the job done against Inverell.
“Last time we played them, we created a lot of chances. That’s not to say they didn’t either.
“I definitely think we were on top for a larger portion of the game, so for us it’s about replicating that and finishing the chances we get.”
James has challenged his men to build on the second half that they produced last weekend against East Armidale United when they turned a 1-all half-time scoreline into a 4-1 win.
“We’ve had probably four games in a row now where we haven’t been at our best,” the DK coach said.
“Our touch has been poor and we’ve been very sluggish in those games. There was a half-time spray last weekend, and hopefully that’s turned things around. We were a lot better in that second half.
“We’ve also changed a few things up in training.
“The Westside game (a 4-1 loss in round 13), I think they probably couldn’t have played any better and our boys will say we couldn’t have played any worse. Full credit to them, you can’t take anything away from them. They blew us away in the first 10 minutes and they ran off that energy for the rest of the game.
“It was our first loss of the year and it gives our boys plenty of incentive going into the back-end of the season, that’s for sure.”
