Men’s State League 1 Week One Finals Series Preview
With the regular season coming to a close after 22 riveting rounds of action, the attention now turns to the finals series where the five remaining teams will battle it out to see who will be the champion for season 2014.
Premiers Hakoah Sydney City East FC will have the week off, but an exciting Elimination and Qualifying Final awaits.
Elimination Final
Gladesville Ryde Magic v Balmain Tigers – Saturday 4pm at Ron Dine Reserve
For both teams the equation is simple this week; win and the march towards the Grand Final will continue for another week, but lose and it will be curtains for season 2014. It will be a case of deja vu in the Elimination Final, with both sides meeting only last week in a contest that was won 6-0 by Balmain.
Gladesville will need to move on quickly from last week’s performance as there will be no second chances this week. The Magic have been consistent for the majority of the season and have shown great resolve to grind out results that have kept them near the top of the ladder all year. Look for big performances from their experienced leaders this week, including goalkeeper Kiriakos Tohouroglou, who has been arguably the competitions best in between the sticks, as well as midfielders John Martinez and Chris Gaitatzis, who have been the heartbeat of the side all year.
Balmain have been the sleeping giant of the competition all year long and have really kicked into gear towards the back end of this season. The Tigers successfully confirmed their place in the finals on the last day of the regular season and will now be looking for a repeat of last year’s finals effort, where they were State League 1 Champions. Balmain will have a number of bigtime players in their line up to lead the way this week but the game breaker will undoubtedly be top goal scorer Rosario Occhipinti, who is capable of turning a match on its head with his clinical form in front of goal.
Last week’s big win will have Balmain confident heading into the clash, but the Tigers will know all too well that Gladesville will be a different proposition in this weeks do or die fixture.
Qualifying Final
Northbridge FC v Granville Rage – Sunday 4pm at Arlington Oval
The other match this week will see Northbridge tackle Granville Rage in Sunday afternoon’s Qualifying Final. While both teams have earned themselves two bites at the cherry in the final series, neither team will want to start this part on the season on the back foot.
Despite some mixed results for Northbridge towards the end of the season, last week’s 4-3 victory over Hawkesbury was enough for the Bridge to finish second on the ladder at the end of the regular season. Joe Haywood’s men have played an exciting and fast paced attacking brand of football all year long, and this has led to the side finishing with the second highest amount of goals scored. No strangers to the big fixtures, the last few seasons have seen Northbridge become a regular face come finals time, and they will no doubt be looking to go all the way come seasons end.
A nail biting final day of the regular season saw Granville leapfrog Gladesville on the ladder, with superior goal difference leaving the Rage sitting in third spot. Mauricio Islas men play a possession based game, with skillful players such as David Harding and Khushaba Khushaba always looking threatening in the midfield, while upfront the Rage can count on one of the most dangerous forward lines in the competition, with Nenos Bobo and Almir Dizdaric a handful for any side.
The winner of the clash will face a well-rested Hakoah the following week, while whoever loses will need to face off against the winner of this week’s Elimination Final between Gladesville and Balmain.
Grade 20
Northbridge have been crowned Premiers for 2014 after a 6-2 victory in a catch up match this week handing them their first silverware for the year jumping past Hakoah at the top of the ladder. Hawkesbury City, Dulwich Hill and Granville Rage round up the remaining final spots.
-By Diego Munoz
