Narrabri FC crowned undefeated Namoi Premier League reserve grade champions

Narrabri FC’s reserve grade side made club history on Saturday when they won the Namoi Premier League grand final to complete a remarkable undefeated campaign.

The club’s first grade side have only won one grand final out of the six they have played in but lost a game during their 2020 premiership-winning season.

Nothing or nobody was stopping Darren Moodie’s side on Saturday as they lined up looking for win number 17 to claim the 2023 title, and their 2-1 victory against Moree Services FC saw them complete a memorable minor and major premiership double.

They almost went behind early but regrouped and created an abundance of chances, two of which they took before Moree Services FC struck with a late consolation goal.

Moodie told The Courier he could not have been any prouder of the side, who were deserved champions following a top-quality season.

“I just had no doubts in this team. I knew we would win it. Without being arrogant, that’s how confident I was in them,” Moodie said.

“They were just ready to take on the challenge.

“When they all entered the dressing sheds, they were jovial and they were talking and joking and playing their music. They weren’t quiet or nervous; they were ready to go.

“Even though 2-1 was the final scoreline and it was seemingly close at the end, it wasn’t a true indication of how much we did dominate. It could have been four or five or six to us, and it probably should have been, but that’s taking nothing away from Moree.

“We were very dominant during that game, particularly in the first half. Moree did have an early chance when they hit the post, but it was probably their only chance of the first 40 minutes. Although it was 1-0 at half-time, there were three or four chances we should have scored. We could have had the game comfortably wrapped up at half-time.

“In the second half, I think we were dominant again, but we probably left a little bit too much space there in the midfield and Moree did come at us a little bit more.

“We created I don’t know how many chances, and when we finally did score, probably through a lack of experience, we became just a little complacent. I think we thought we had it won.

“We still kept dominating, but Moree pegged us back with a late goal that spurred them on, but we played with a little bit more desperation in those final three minutes to secure the win.”

Narrabri had not trailed during any of their previous 16 games going into the grand final, but they almost did as Moree went close to opening the scoring early in the contest when they struck the post from a cross-turned-shot in the 10th minute.

However, Narrabri then gained the ascendancy as they created several big chances. They finally took one in the 28th minute when Rhys Bower opened the scoring with a clinical finish into the bottom right corner after Ben Stride beat a defender on the goal line and cut the ball back to his teammate who made no mistake.

Narrabri FC went into the half-time break with that 1-0 lead, which could have been more had Moree keeper Marco Aria not produced arguably the standout performance of the half.

Aria continued to impress with more fine saves in the second stanza as Narrabri came out firing, but the minor premiers eventually found a second goal when Bailey Campbell made a break down the right edge and passed inside to Jorian Fleming, who calmly slotted the ball home to make the score 2-0.

It looked like that would be the way it would finish late in the game, but Moree young gun Aden Bridge fired a classy left-footed strike into the top left corner in stoppage time.

However, Narrabri held on during the final three minutes of play to win their maiden reserve grade premiership.

“Undefeated, dominant throughout the whole season, conceding three goals and scoring nearly 60. I don’t think you can’t have a better season than that,” Moodie said.

“I didn’t expect us to go through the season undefeated, but then we just started clicking.

“It sets the challenge for next year now. I don’t know how we better that next year, but we’ll try to step it up.

“For now, though, I just couldn’t be prouder of this group of players.”