Narrabri Touch Inc’s finals series to start on Monday after regular season wraps up

Narrabri Touch Inc’s 2020-21 summer season’s three-week finals series will commence on Monday evening for the two men’s competitions and the three ladies’ divisions following the final round of the regular season which was contested this week.

Both the committee and the teams are excited to crown 2020-21 champions, after last season’s finals series was cancelled on the eve of the preliminary finals amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, the first week of finals series will see qualifying semi-finals and elimination semi-finals contested.

In each grade, the qualifying semi-finals will be played between the first and second-ranked sides from each grade, and the elimination games will be played between the third and fourth-ranked teams from each grade.

That means that all 12 ladies’ teams across the three divisions will play on Monday evening, while eight of the 10 men’s teams across the two grades will also be in action.

Only the fifth-placed men’s teams in both grades are now out of their respective competitions.

The winners of the qualifying semi-finals will progress to the March 29 grand finals, while the losers will play the winners of the elimination semi-finals in the March 22 preliminary finals.

The season will finish for the losers of this Monday’s elimination semi-finals.

The last round of Narrabri Touch Inc’s 2020-21 regular season was in doubt on Monday following a downpour of rain during the day, however the teams managed to get on to play.

In the A-grade men’s competition, Grumley Builders won its fourth straight graded game to secure first place on the ladder.

It defeated Damien Chiplin Plumbing 4-0, while Platform X Studio won a battle for second place 11-2 against Gee Bangers.

Those results meant that Gee Bangers placed third, Win Or Booze (which had the bye) finished fourth, and Damien Chiplin Plumbing missed out on a finals spot in fifth place.

In the men’s B-grade competition, Cougars won its fourth straight graded game to secure first place.

It downed Mowley’s Maniacs 6-3, while DTA Lumberjacks won a battle for second place 6-3 against Stylies.

Those results meant that Stylies placed third, Ballbusters (which had the bye) finished fourth, and Mowley’s Maniacs missed out on a finals spot in fifth place.

In the ladies’ A-grade competition, the two top-ranked teams Agies Ladies and Specialised Civil Services met one another to decide which team would finish first having both won their two respective graded games prior to Monday.

Agies Ladies won that match 7-1, and in the other match Xtra downed Redbacks 4-2.

Those results meant that Agies Ladies finished first and Specialised Civil Services placed second followed by Xtra (third) and Redbacks (fourth).

In B-grade, Phoenix Two390 also finished its graded campaign undefeated with three wins from as many games.

It downed BPR-Tourist Hotel 6-1 on Monday, while the other B-grade ladies’ match was not contested after Hounddogs forfeited to Blue Birds.

In that division, Blue Birds placed second and BPR-Tourist Hotel and Hounddogs finished third and fourth respectively.

In the ladies’ C-grade competition, RSL Roulettes downed OneDay Gals 4-2 and The Emasculators edged out The Rippers 3-2.

Those results saw RSL Roulettes finish first with three wins from as many matches, OneDay Gals place second and The Emasculators and The Rippers finish third and fourth respectively.

Fixtures for week one of the finals on Monday are as follows:

6pm: Canteen duty – Tanya Nolan; field one – A-grade men’s qualifier – Grumley Builders v Platform X Studio (Matt Nott, Danny Laws); field two – A-grade ladies’ eliminator – Xtra v Redbacks (Alisha Conomos, Sophie McFarland); field three – B-grade men’s qualifier – Cougars v DTA Lumberjacks (Keegan Richardson, Ken Nolan); field four – B-grade ladies’ qualifier: Blue Birds v Phoenix2390 (Tracy Warren, Mary Fielder); field five – C-grade ladies’ eliminator – Emasculators v The Rippers (Kristie Toomey, Lily Cruckshank).

6.35pm: Canteen Duty – Tracy Warren; field one – C-grade ladies’ qualifier – OneDay Gals v RSL Roulettes (Sophie Donatini, Mereka Gleeson); field two – B-grade men’s eliminator – Ballbusters v Stylies (Michael Knox, Clayton Pursche); field three – B-grade ladies’ eliminator – BPR-Tourist v HoundDogs (Lidia McCauley, Cassidy Staines); field four – A-grade men’s eliminator – Win or Booze v GeeBangers (Nathan Dicks, Hamish Duncan); field five – A-grade ladies’ qualifier – Agies v Specialised Civil Services (Wayne Nott, Tom Nolan).