Namoi United kick off the 2025 season with a big win in Tamworth

Namoi United are off to a flying start to the 2025 Northern Inland Premier League campaign, and they are now determined to build on a dominant opening-round performance as they prepare to face the defending champions Inverell this Saturday in round two.

The combined Narrabri/Wee Waa/Moree club travelled to Tamworth for the season opener on Saturday where they knocked off Hillvue Rovers 5-1 in the first grade fixture at Gipps Street Sporting Fields.

One of the side’s new additions starred on debut as Portuguese striker Rodrigo Araujo netted a hat-trick and provided an assist in the four-goal win after impressing at his first training session on Thursday and securing a start.

He was full of energy off the ball as well as he constantly chased back to put pressure on Hillvue players when they were in possession, which was acknowledged by his teammates as he received a record amount of players’ player votes with three points from almost every other player.

Araujo opened the scoring in the 13th minute after winning a free kick just outside the 18-yard box before driving a shot under the jumping wall and into the back of the net.

The Rovers hit back a little over a minute later when Alex Barton scored for the hosts to make the score 1-1.

It looked set to remain that way as half-time approached, but the visitors restored their one-goal lead in injury time when Araujo squared in a cross from the right edge and Matt Hamblin made no mistake with his shot from close range.

Namoi United’s tough pre-season paid off in the second stanza as they overran the hosts in what were warm conditions.

Araujo doubled the side’s lead in the 56th minute when he outmuscled one of the Hillvue defenders to win possession before charging away and finishing a one-on-one strike, and he made it 4-1 in the 67th minute as he got onto a Jake Brayshaw cross from the left and drove the ball home to complete his hat-trick.

Cooper Brayshaw added a late goal in the 84th minute after a sharp patch of ball movement saw him receive the ball in space on the edge of the area before he picked out the bottom-right corner with a left-footed strike.

The Namoi United midfielder, who was the winner of the side’s golden boot and players’ player awards last season, told The Courier that their second-half performance in the 5-1 victory was impressive.

“I think we played fairly well,” Brayshaw said.

“It was the first game, so there were going to be patches where the lack of game time and time together showed, but we did really well, especially in the second half.

“It was really hot and the work we did in pre-season showed for sure. In that second half, especially, we overran them in the midfield and attack, and in defence we shut them down well so they didn’t have much going forward.

“We scored three in the second half and kept them out, so that was really good.”

For Namoi United’s coach Neil Brayshaw, the victory was a welcome one after it took the side four matches to register a win when they joined the competition in 2024, but he was far more impressed with the way his men performed.

“It was one of our best wins. Very impressive,” Brayshaw said.

“Our away record last year was four losses and one draw, so we all really wanted to improve on that and get the season off to a good start, which the boys did.

“It was probably one of our best starts to a game and we were up 1-0 early, but we switched off and just lost concentration and they scored within two minutes. It was a sloppy goal.

“We got another goal back just before half-time, and we spoke at the break about going back out there and making the ball stick. I was very happy because we did that. We moved the ball between the defenders, the midfield and Rodrigo up front.

“Rodrigo played really well in his first game for the club.”

There were only two other matches played in round one on Saturday as all six Northern Conference teams as well as Southern Conference side Moore Creek sat out with a bye.

North Companions edged out South United 1-0 at Marius Street Sporting Fields while Tamworth FC and Oxley Vale Attunga contested a 2-2 draw at Gipps Street Sporting Fields.

Those results left Namoi United on top of the table heading into round two, and the side is well aware that the task at hand will be far more difficult when they challenge Inverell FC at the Moree Services Club Field.

Inverell FC are the 2024 minor and major premiers, and earlier this month they won the Johnson Cup pre-season tournament in Tamworth for the second year in a row.

Their coach Damien Schutz was in attendance for Namoi United’s round one clash and will have his team well-prepared in Moree on Saturday.

The two sides only met once in 2024 and it was Inverell who prevailed 4-1 in a round three clash in Moree. Namoi United were poor defensively that day and missed plenty of chances in front of goal, and are determined to produce an improved showing as they look to build on their round one win.

The reserve grade clash was a tight one at Gipps Street Sporting Fields on Saturday as Hillvue outscored Namoi United 1-0 in the first game of the day.