The 2020 Namoi Soccer League regular season wrapped up with two round 12 games on Saturday which were won by Narrabri FC’s two teams Narrabri Sporties FC and Narrabri Elevens FC.
At Hogan Oval, Sporties FC took on Moree Services FC and scored a 5-1 victory which knocked the 2017 and 2018 champions out of finals contention. It also saw the four-time minor premiers finish 13 points clear at the top of the table after securing 31 of a possible 36 points in the 2020 campaign.
At Cook Oval, hosts Wee Waa United FC challenged Narrabri Elevens FC in a battle for second place.
The Elevens entered that match requiring a win or draw to finish second and they got the job done in fine fashion with a 5-2 win.
Those results meant that Elevens FC finished second, six points clear of third-placed Wee Waa.
By securing second spot the Elevens have earned the right to host this Saturday’s preliminary final at Hogan Oval against Wee Waa.
The winner of that game will go on to face minor premiers Sporties FC in the September 26 grand final at Hogan Oval.
In round 12 on Saturday at Cook Oval, the Elevens struck first with an early goal which saw Bailey Campbell net for the fourth time in the 2020 campaign. He ran onto a through ball and was too fast for the home side’s defence before scoring a one-on-one chance past Waa Waa goalkeeper Steve Phelps.
Five minutes, later, Riley Jenkins doubled the visitors’ lead, but Wee Waa’s David Avery made the score 2-1 with a left-foot strike from outside the 18-yard box which flew in after bouncing off the crossbar.
Just before half-time Jenkins scored his second goal of the game to make the score 3-1 at the break.
About 10 minutes into the second stanza Elevens FC extended its lead to three goals when Ayden Hunter found the back of the net for his second goal of the season to make the score 4-1.
Avery then pulled a goal back for the home side when he capitalised on a defensive error to make the score 4-2.
With about 10 minutes to go Jenkins restored his team’s three-goal lead with his third goal of the game to make the final score 5-2. That goal was Jenkins’ 13th of the season and his 10th in his past three games as the young attacking midfielder enters the finals in top form.
At Hogan Oval, Sporties FC took an early lead when Jacob Sunderland ran onto a Matt Hall cross from a right edge free kick and unleashed a powerful header into the top left corner.
In the 12th minute, Blake Jarrett doubled the home side’s lead, volleying a shot into the roof of the net from close range after running onto a Cooper Brayshaw left side corner.
Midway through the first half, Hall set up his second, finding Brenton Cochrane with a through ball. Cochrane made an angled run from the right wing inside towards goal and took a touch to control the ball before firing a shot into the bottom left
corner to make the score 3-0.
That quickly became 3-1 when Moree pulled one back against the run of play.
Both sides battled to score the game’s fifth goal, however when the half-time whistle sounded the score was still 3-1 to Sporties FC.
In the second half, Brayshaw found the back of the net, scoring into an empty net after Jarrett squared up a pass to his teammate after the pair found themselves two-on-one with Moree goalkeeper Will Hawker.
Sunderland scored the final goal of the game late in the match with a chipped left-footed shot from outside the 18-yard box which flew over Hawker and into the back of the net.
Namoi Soccer League ladder after round 12:
1 Sporties FC 12 10 1 1 60 20 31
2 Elevens FC 12 6 0 6 28 48 18
3 Wee Waa 12 4 0 8 32 36 12
4 Moree 12 3 1 8 24 40 10
(Placing, Team, Played, Wins, Draws, Losses, For, Against, Points).
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