The inaugural UNE Northern NSW Regional Super League finals weekend is here.
The maiden competition kicked off in May with 16 teams across men’s and women’s competitions.
The final eight will meet for the semi-finals at Scully Park, Tamworth on Saturday, with the winners to back up for the grand finals on Sunday.
The UNE NNSW Regional Super League Women’s grand final will kick-off at 3pm on Sunday. With the UNE NNSW Regional Super League Men’s grand final to follow at 6pm.
All matches will be broadcast on the NNSWF YouTube channel.
UNE NNSW Regional Super League Men’s Semi-Final 1
Inverell FC v Northern Storm
Scully Park, Saturday 2.30pm
Northern Storm coach Craig Caruana says he expects a tough match-up when they go head-to-head with Inverell FC in the first UNE NNSW Regional Super League Men’s semi-final at Scully Park on Saturday afternoon.
Northern Storm and Inverell have faced each other once already this year when they met in round three of the Hahn Australia Cup in February.
The two sides could not be separated at the full-time whistle, despite Northern Storm being reduced to 10 men. But they were able to weather the storm and walk away with a victory via penalties.
Caruana predicted that another close encounter would take place in the Regional Super League semi-final.
“We could take a lot of confidence out of [the Hahn Australia Cup match]. When we played them last time, we had a player dismissed for a second yellow card just on half-time. We had to weather a full 45 minutes in the second half with only 10 men,” Caruana said.
“We were able to do that. Even with 10 men, we were able to carve out a couple of little chances. But more importantly, our defence was very strong that day. I was very happy with the way we responded.
“Hopefully that puts us in a good stead for what’s to come this Saturday but I’m expecting a tough challenge.
“They're strong, they're physical. They’ve got a bit of speed and power, so they don't really have any weaknesses. We'll have to be our best on the weekend to get a result.”
Northern Storm narrowly missed out on playing in the North Coast Football HIT105.5 Premier League grand final when they went down 3-1 against Woolgoolga FC in the semi-final.
The loss meant that they played their last competition match over a month ago and Caruana predicted that match fitness would be a problem for his side.
“They're a good side Inverell. I've come to know [Inverell FC coach Damien Schutz] over the last year, so I'm sure that they'll be ready,” Caruana said.
“They've only had their last game, maybe just over a week ago so I'm sure they'll still be pretty match fit.
“Training for us has been good. Fortunately, all the niggles and bumps that we did have are all gone now. What we're lacking maybe is a little bit of match fitness.
“We’re expecting the conditions to be hot and dry out there so I think match fitness may be a little bit more of an advantage in those conditions. The guys that aren't used to running for 80 to 90 minutes. That's going to be a bit of a tough afternoon out there.”
Northern Storm secured their spot in the semi-final after finishing second on the Men’s group B table after recording two wins and one loss.
While Northern Storm were unable to be crowned champions of the North Coast Football premier competition, Inverell were victorious in the NNSWF – Northern Inland Premier League.
Inverell secured their spot in the grand final after they downed Moore Creek FC 3-1 in round two of the finals. The two sides met again in the grand final where Inverell were once again victorious in a hard-fought 1-0 win.
They will be determined to keep the good times rolling after they were undefeated in the UNE NNSW RSL group stage.
They closed out the group stage with a 4-0 win over Urunga FC and locked in top spot on the men’s group A table.
But with one weekend off between the NNSWF – Northern Inland Premier League grand final and finals series for UNE NNSW RSL, bodies would be sore and ready for a break after another tough season.
Inverell will need to dig a little deeper to lock in their fourth consecutive UNE NNSW RSL win and a spot in the inaugural grand final.
The winner of Inverell v Northern Storm will face the winner of Port Saints FC v Armidale City Westside in the grand final at 6pm on Sunday.
UNE NNSW Regional Super League Men’s Semi-Final 2
Port Saints FC v Armidale City Westside
Scully Park, Saturday 4.45pm
Port Saints will look to continue its perfect UNE NNSW RSL record when they take on Armidale City Westside in the second semi-final on Saturday.
Port Saints secured their spot in the UNE NNSW RSL finals series after they recorded three wins in the group stage. The undefeated run saw them finish at the top of the men’s group B table, three points ahead of Northern Storm in second.
But the three wins did not come easy with two of the three results being separated by a single goal, including their win against Armidale.
Much like their UNE RSL season, the Saints finished the Football Mid North Coast Zone League One competition at the top of the table with 15 wins, two draws and just one loss.
The side continued their winning streak and locked in a grand final win when they defeated cross town rivals Port United 3-0.
With an average of three goals per game, they will look for their dominant strikers to repeat their recent performances.
Saints will look to their match fitness to help them get over the line with their season ending just two weeks ago and will be hopeful they can continue their winning ways.
A win would see them face the winner of Inverell FC v Northern Storm in the inaugural grand final on Sunday at 6pm.
Meanwhile Armidale City Westside will look to replicate their strong performances in the NNSWF – Northern Inland Premier League.
They finished the season fourth on the premier league table before they were knocked out of the finals series by Oxley Vale Attunga.
Armidale went down 3-2 to Port Saints in their men’s group B fixture, with Westside looking for its goal scorers Aiden Webster and Jye Saxby to repeat their round three performance against Saints and find the back of the net again.