PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 Preliminary Final Preview

We are down to three remaining clubs in the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 2 competition with Spirit FC and Bankstown City meeting in Saturday’s preliminary final to see who will take on Northern Tigers in next week’s Grand Final.

Preliminary Final

Spirit FC v Bankstown City Saturday 3:45pm Valentine Sports Park No 2 Parklea

Spirit FC must be wondering how it all went so wrong so late in the game last Sunday. For a side which conceded only sixteen goals all year, to turn over five in one game must have seemed inconceivable. They will hope that it was just one of those games, or even just a crazy few minutes, and they will surely not do the same again this weekend.

They are still seeking to do the double, hoping to add the Championship to their Premiers title. Perhaps surprisingly, taking both honours is not as common as it might seem. In the previous eight years, only three clubs have gone on to win both titles. Blacktown Spartans (2011), Northern Tigers (2012) and St George (2013) have succeeded where others have failed but John McLafferty and his Spirit side will surely want to add their names to that list.

This is Spirit’s first finals series since 2010 and while they will want to forget their first foray back after five years, they have the opportunity to make amends this weekend. It was against Bankstown City that Spirit kicked off their season with a 1-0 win, before also overcoming the Lions 3-1 at Jensen Park in round twelve. The results have gone their way so far then but it will be a tougher Bankstown outfit this Saturday.

It could be argued that the Lions are the form team at the moment. They have won six of their last seven and only a last minute equaliser by Sydney University prevented Bankstown from having a clean sweep. They have seen off highflyers Central Coast and Hakoah Sydney City East twice each in the past month, so they will have the confidence to now take on the newly crowned Premiers.

Since returning to this level in 2012, Bankstown City have only made the finals series once prior to this year, and that was in that first season. Coincidentally, they fell at this corresponding stage, so we can be sure that they will want to go at least one game better this time round. Certainly, the only two players who remain from that beaten team, Reuben Lagos and Domenic Hudap, won’t want to suffer the same fate again.

It should be a cracker, and a rare Saturday afternoon kick off at FNSW headquarters should ensure a good crowd in attendance for what could shape up to be one of the games of the season.

-by Peter Rowney, PS4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 2 Reporter