Namoi United have climbed back into third on the Northern Inland Premier League first grade ladder following a hard-fought 1-0 victory in Armidale on Saturday.
The combined Narrabri/Wee Waa/Moree side took on Norths United at Phil Wheaton Oval in the 14th round of the season and a 51st-minute Jake Brayshaw strike was the difference as the visitors kept their first clean sheet.
Brayshaw’s goal came just over five minutes into the second stanza when he got in behind in the box and buried his one-on-one strike.
The victory saw Namoi United bounce back from a forfeit loss just one week earlier when they were unable to field one full side across the two grades to travel to Tamworth to take on Moore Creek.
They only had four fresh first graders in round 14 after most of the side featured in a 2-0 reserve grade loss, but they are likely to be boosted by several returns this weekend for a return trip to Armidale when they challenge Armidale City Westside at Harris Park on Saturday.
The win over Norths United was Namoi’s sixth of the season in 11 games to go with three draws and just two losses, leaving them on 21 points. That saw them climb into third place after the Hillvue Rovers were beaten 5-1 by Oxley Vale Attunga to drop to fourth spot on the southern conference table.
Moore Creek (31) and OVA (27) are most likely going to be too good for the other five southern conference sides, so it will be a battle for third between Namoi, Hillvue (19) and Tamworth FC (17) on the run home.
The top ranked northern conference teams are Inverell (19), East Armidale (18) and Armidale City Westside (17), who are all in the top seven of the overall ladder alongside the four top-ranked southern conference teams
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