Football South Coast are pleased to announce that four teams from within the FSC association will be participating in the FNSW State Cup finals this coming Sunday 17th July at the FNSW Home of Football (Valentine Park, Glenwood).

The Cheryl Salisbury Cup for the women's U12 competition will be contested by Shellharbour JFC after beating Lowland Wanders 2-1 on home turf at Cougar Park in their semi-final. They will come into the final as underdogs, facing a historically strong Northbridge club gunning for two State Cups in a row. Shellharbour will be facing Northbridge 2, who lost last year's semi-final to their sister Northbridge 1 side, who went on to win the title.

With Shellharbour yet to be restricted to less than two goals in each of their four games, and Northbridge still yet to leak a single goal in three matches, it will be a huge test of offence vs defence for the Cheryl Salisbury Cup this year. The Shellharbour team features five players who are also part of the FSC Girls Skills Aquasition Program (SAP).

Road to the final

Shellharbour JFC - BYE, 4-0 v Pagewood Botany, 6-0 v Cronulla Seagulls, 2-1 v Kellyville 1, 2-1 v Lowland Wanderers SC

Northbridge 2 - BYE, 3-0 v Kellyville 3 (forfeit), 1-0 v Ryde Saints United FC, 3-0 v Russell Vale United FC, 1-0 v Wahroonga FC

Kickoff for this match is 10:15am at Valentine Sports Park 1.

 

Lake Heights JFC will be the sole male representatives in the U15's, having beaten Hurlstone Park 2-1 to reach the final against Harrington United 1. Lake Heights will fancy their chances, having leaked only a solitary goal in their 5 previous matches, including a 1-0 win over Harrington United 2 in the Round of 16. Their opponents, Harrington United 1, have cruised through most of the competition, netting five or more goals in three of their five matches to date.

In what should prove a fascinating game, both sides have shown both attacking prowess and defensive stability throughout their prior matches, registering for & against tallies of 16-1 and 24-4 respectively, the game could swing either way between a tense, single-goal thriller or a goal-fest.

Road to the final

Lake Heights JFC - 3-0 v Mascot Kings FC, 4-0 v Pendle Hill, 1-0 v Harrington United 2, 4-0 v Guildford County 1, 2-1 v Hurlstone Park Wanderers

Harrington United 1 - 5-0 v North Sutherland, 2-1 v Newbury Bulls, 11-0 v Pagewood Botany, 5-3 v St Clair United SC, 1-0 v Mt Pritchard

Kickoff for this match is 9:00am at Valentine Sports Park 2.

 

Football South Coast will be guaranteed a trophy in the all-Illawarra clash in the All Age Women's final between Albion Park WFC and Wollongong Olympic Womens. Sydney Uni White were knocked out of the semi-finals for a second consecutive year, this time Albion Park netting four times to nil. Meanwhile Wollongong Olympic Womens beat Sutherland association side Miranda Magpies 1-0 to book their spot.

These sides meet in peculiar respects to form in the Cup. Albion Park have shown their attacking prowess throughout, scoring at least three goals in every match and leaking thrice in five games. Wollongong Olympic Womens have shown a potential to blow opposition away, scoring a combined 15 goals in their first two games, however the two since have been decided by a single goal. The final will likely come down to whether Wollongong's defence are able to hold out Albion Park so as not to be constantly chasing the game and letting their own frontline have a chance of snatching the silverware up top.

Road to the final

Albion Park - 4-0 v Waverly Old Boys, 3-0 v Hurlstone Park Wanderers 1 (forfeit), 5-1 v Como West Jannali, 3-2 v Dunbar Rovers, 4-0 v Sydney Uni White

Wollongong Olympic Womens - BYE, 9-1 v Camden Tigers, 6-2 v Flying Bats, 4-3 v Leichardt Saints, 1-0 v Miranda Magpies

Kickoff for this match is 2:00pm at Valentine Sports Park 1.

 

In what proved to be a mixed bag of results in the semi-finals, FSC prevailed from the semi final draw with over half of their seven teams into their respective final.

Balgownie suffered two losses in the penultimate fixtures, with their women's U14 side defeated by AC United 3-2, and their women's U18 side beaten 4-2 by Colo Soccer FC, who will face last year's winners Connells Point Rovers FC from the St George association.

Meanwhile, Wollongong United men's U18's were beaten 2-0 by 2015 quarter-finalists Wakehurst FC from Manly-Warringah, who will play fellow 2015 quarter-finalists Georges River FC from the Sutherland area in the final.

Story by David Atherton