The grand final of the Narrabri Eagles Australian Rules Football Club’s AFL Nines mixed competition will be played tomorrow night at the Eagles’ nest, Leitch Oval.
The top two ranked sides, The Crows and Devon Sangas, will go head-to-head in the decider to be crowned the inaugural champion.
Narrabri Eagles president Tom Carberry predicted the game would be an interesting contest between the two sides which will play against one another for the first time, having not met during the regular season.
“I reckon it’ll be a tough grand final between the comp’s top two teams,” Carberry said.
“The Crows are unbeaten this season and Devon Sangas lost their first game but have been getting stronger and stronger every game since.
“It’ll definitely be an interesting grand final.”
Carberry said that the Eagles’ committee encouraged spectators to watch the grand final unfold at Leitch Oval while maintaining a social distance.
The Crows finished on top of the table after going through the four evenings of regular season games undefeated. They played five games and won all five by a combined 145-52.
Their first victory was 36-7 against Narrabri Magpies on opening night back on September 14, which was followed by 42-16 an 39-24 wins against Goal Diggers and Bri Hards respectively on a double header night on Friday, September 18. Last week they beat The Bald Eagles 21-3 on Monday, September 21, then they downed Bellata Yabbie Club 7-2 on Friday, September 25.
On Monday, The Crows went up against fourth-placed Bellata Yabbie Club in the 1v4 knockout semi-final and the top-ranked side secured a grand final berth with a nailbiting 27-23 win.
The Crows’ grand final opponent, Devon Sangas, played four games during the regular season. They won three of those games on their way to a second-placed finish.
They went down 39-7 against The Bri Hards in round one on a night in which the team was missing several players.
However it quickly got its players on board and bounced back to score 18-9, 29-13 and 33-18 wins against The Bald Eagles, Narrabri Magpies and The Bri Hards respectively.
On Monday, Devon Sangas met The Bri Hards in the 2v3 semi-final. In the two teams’ third encounter of the season, The Bri Hards were victorious. But an announcement was made by the Eagles on Tuesday that due to a late committee overruling, the The Bri Hards had forfeited their chance for a place in the grand final.
Meanwhile, the competition’s bottom three teams were given the chance to qualify for the tier two grand final.
Goal Diggers finished fifth which saw it gain automatic qualification for that game, which will be played tomorrow night at Hogan Oval.
Sixth-placed The Bald Eagles and seventh-placed Narrabri Magpies were scheduled to play off on Monday to set up a date with Goal Diggers, but due to a shortage of players Magpies were forced to forfeit.
The Bald Eagles and Goal Diggers will now face off for the tier two grand final.
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