Narrabri FC goes all the way to the Kevin Johnson Cup grand final in Tamworth

Narrabri FC went all the way to the grand final of the 2021 Kevin Johnson Cup pre-season tournament which was contested at Tamworth on Saturday, but went down against the defending Northern Inland Premier League first grade champions Oxley Vale Attunga in the decider.

In the side’s fifth 40-minute match played on a cold and rainy day, Narrabri FC was defeated 3-0 in the big dance after keeping the Tamworth side scoreless in the second stanza.

The 2020 Namoi Soccer League champions won three of their five games in their first appearance at the annual Northern Inland Football tournament which included 5-0 and 3-0 clean sheet victories in their pool matches and a 2-1 semi-final win.

Their other loss was a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the eventual champions, Oxley Vale Attunga, when the sides met for the first time in the tournament in their second pool game.

Narrabri FC entered the Kevin Johnson Cup for a chance to have a final hit-out ahead of this year’s Namoi Soccer League competition which will kick off on May 1.

It was also a chance for the team to play against some different and stronger opposition, a challenge that brought the best out of the Narrabri men according to coach Neil Brayshaw.

Brayshaw is coaching Narrabri FC for a fourth consecutive season in 2021. He said that he was impressed with the way his side stepped up at the tournament and added that he had never been prouder of his men.

“I don’t think I could be any more proud of my team,” Brayshaw told The Courier.

“We had some hard competition to play against and I think our boys really realise how hard the Northern Inland Premier League comp over there in Tamworth actually is.

“The team we played in the grand final in the cup are the premier league champions and we only just got beat on the bell by a goal in the pool match against them.

“To go up against them in the grand final with just one sub on the bench and to be down 3-0 at half-time but to keep it at that score by full time was a tremendous effort, it’s a credit to everyone involved with the club.

“We exceeded all our expectations as a team to be honest. I really just wanted us to go over there and put into practice what we have been working on during the pre-season and get three games under our belt.

“I thought it would be a bonus if we moved on to the finals which we did, I was really pleased with how we went.”

Brayshaw said that the 15 players who made the trip to Tamworth on Saturday now had the inside running to make the squad for round one of the Namoi Soccer League competition on Saturday, May 1.

“We bonded really well as a team and the communication on the park was great, we are really putting in what we are doing at training onto the field now,” Brayshaw said.

“We’ve now set our expectations for the Namoi League this year.

“I have a lot of confidence after seeing how we went at the Johnson Cup and we need to carry that over now and improve individually and as a team.

“The blokes who attended the carnival have got the inside running for spots for round one at the moment but the next two weeks at training as well as what

I’ve seen during pre-season training will be taken into account too.

“Looking at us on Saturday, you can really see what training and pre-season fitness does do and how it helps.

“To play at the level we did all day with mostly two reserves was a credit to the team.

“I really have to thank Lachie Cameron from Phoenix Two390 who got the boys into shape this season and to the boys who have started to turn up consistently on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

The Narrabri FC coach said that while he was proud of the entire team, the side’s defence was outstanding throughout the entire day at the annual tournament and added that goalkeeper Zaac Brayshaw was a standout for the team.

To kick off its tournament, Narrabri FC took on one of Tamworth-based club North Companions’ two sides in its first pool one match on Saturday morning.

One of the Narrabri FC’s 2021 co-captains, Cooper Brayshaw, inspired his side to a 5-0 victory with a hat-trick in the rout, while his brother and the team’s other co-captain, Zaac Brayshaw, was superb between the sticks as he kept a clean sheet.

The Narrabri men led 1-0 at half-time in that fixture after Jake Brayshaw scored his first goal of the day mid-way through the first 20-minute period of play.

Narrabri FC caught the Companions’ deference napping after winning a free-kick on halfway as Cooper Brayshaw played a quick pass in behind the defensive line. Blake Jarrett ran onto the ball and charged into the box before squaring a pass to his strike partner who slotted the ball into the back of the net.

The second stanza was dominated by the youngest of the Brayshaw brothers as Cooper produced a standout performance, with Narrabri’s attack running through him for the full 20 minutes.

The centre midfielder scored two cracking finishes from well outside the 18-yard-box, the first of which found the bottom right-hand corner before the second flew in off the left post.

That made the score 3-0, which became 4-0 with 10 minutes remaining when Brayshaw’s centre midfield partner Callum McPhee scored his first goal for the club with a strike from just inside the 18-yard box which found the top right corner.

Cooper Brayshaw then completed his hat-trick to finish off a well-worked team goal which started at the back with Zaac Brayshaw and finished with Cooper running onto a through ball from his brother Jake and finding the back of the net with a one-on-one strike just inside the box.

Narrabri FC then took on its eventual grand final opponent Oxley Vale Attunga Red in the second of its two pool games. That match was won by OVA which finally broke the deadlock with four minutes left to play with a headed goal from a lofted free-kick.

Narrabri FC bounced back from that loss with another clean sheet victory in its third match in which it downed 2020 Tamworth Division Three minor premiers Hillvue Rovers FC 3-0.

The Narrabri side opened its account in that game nine minutes into the match when Colby Williams ran onto a Cooper Brayshaw through ball and unleashed a powerful strike just outside the 18-yard box across the goalkeeper and into the bottom right corner.

The side doubled its lead just before half-time when McPhee found the back of the net with a miskicked attempted cross which flew over the goalkeeper’s head and just underneath the crossbar.

Narrabri FC then scored the only goal of the second half which was created by Brenton Cochrane. The left midfielder made a run from inside his own half down the left edge before cutting inside and passing to Jarrett who let the ball roll to a charging McPhee who took a touch and blasted a strike from 20 metres out into the bottom left corner to make the final score 3-0.

There was a nervous wait after the full-time whistle in that match to find out which of the three second-placed sides would qualify for the semi-finals to join the three pool winners. Narrabri FC was one of the three sides to place second in their respective pools and was judged to be the top-ranked of that trio which saw it advance to the knock out stage.

The Narrabri men defeated Oxley Vale Attunga White 2-1 in the semi-final to set up a rematch with the club’s stronger side in the grand final. Jake Brayshaw and Blake Jarrett goals, combined with an impressive defensive performance helped the side get the job done in the semi-final before the team was defeated by three unanswered goals in the decider.