Now that the District League Competitions have been done and dusted with the League Champions decided, it is down to the nitty gritty of Finals Football and a date with destiny at WIN Stadium on Saturday September 24 on the line.

There are eight of the 12 District League Clubs represented in the Final Series with Fernhill, Thirroul & Warilla Wanderers having all three teams qualified. Corrimal Rangers have two sides in whilst Balgownie Rangers, Oak Flats Falcons, Wests Illawarra and Helensburgh Thistle are all represented by one team.

It is a great time of year, so fasten the seat belts for what his sure to be an exciting journey to Grand Final Day in four short weeks.

 

ELIMINATION SEMI FINALS

Saturday 3rd September

Memorial Park

First Grade - KO 2.30pm

Thirroul FC v Balgownie Rangers - Referee Bobby Mazevski

Both these sides finished a long way behind the top three sides in this season's League Competition as they accumulated the same number of points (31) with the Thunder claiming fourth position courtesy of goal difference.

Form going into the Final Series for the two teams has also been indifferent, with Thirroul only winning one of their last five games whilst the Rangers claimed three wins from their last five.

On form you could say that, Thirroul and Balgownie are only making up the numbers at the business end of the season but Finals football is oh so different and tends to bring the best out of teams with form books being known to be thrown out of the window come this time of year.

Thirroul suffered a surprise two-nil loss to lowly placed Wests Illawarra in Round 22 but they did not have a lot to play for with their position in the Finals already secure going into the fixture.

Balgownie on the other hand, scraped into the finals with virtually the last kick of the regular season, when they scored a last gasp winner courtesy of Matthew Bubb, over Oak Flats Falcons, to edge out Kiama Quarriers, who had beaten Champions Corrimal Rangers, by the barest of margins ( 1 goal) on goal difference.

Thirroul did get the better of Balgownie during the competition proper with two wins (3-0 in Rd 1 & 3-1 in Rd 12) and based on those results might consider themselves favourites to advance to the next phase, however, as their positions on the table indicate, this one could be a very tight affair which could quite possibly go down to penalties.

Tip: Balgownie Rangers

 

Reserve Grade - KO 12.15pm

Oak Flats Falcons v Corrimal Rangers - Referee Greg Reid

With 10 minutes to go of the regular season, Oak Flats' season looked all but over as they trailed Balgownie Rangers by a goal to nil but two late goals saw the Falcons seal a spot in the Final Series at the expense of the Magpies in a winner take all fixture.

There was no such problem for Corrimal as they cemented there spot in the Finals with a five goals to nil victory over Kiama Quarriers.

During the competition, there was not a lot between today's combatants with one win apiece although Oak Flats won the Round 19 fixture by two goals to nil the last time the two teams met.

Corrimal appear to be the stronger going forward on the basis of scoring 62 goals (average 2.8 goals per game) but defensively the Flats have the edge having conceded only 27 goals in their 22 games.

Tip: Oak Flats

 

Youth Grade - KO 10.00am

Warilla Wanderers v Thirroul FC - Referee Jarryd Higgins

You couldn't accuse either of these two sides in this 'sudden death' match of being gun shy with 86 goals and 89 goals respectively against their name. That's some effort!

The Wanderer's Nicholas High was the leading goal scorer in the competition with 30odd goals to his name whilst Ryan Sutcliffe led the way for Thirroul with 18+.

Impressive as the figures are, the two teams come into this all to play for fixture after both sides suffered last round losses, Warilla going down to League Champions, Helensburgh Thistle by five goals to nil whilst Thirroul suffered at the hands of third placed, Wests Illawarra by four goals to one.

During the competition proper, the two teams shared the points with each team recording a win by identical score lines of five goals to one when playing on their home ground.

There does not appear to be a great deal between these two sides and if the game goes to penalties, it would not surprise.

Tip: Thirroul FC

 

PRELIMINARY SEMI-FINALS

Ray Robinson Field

First Grade - KO 2.30pm

Warilla Wanderers v Fernhill - Referee Peter Ilcevski

This should be quite an entertaining fixture with both sides having enjoyed good, consistent seasons albeit finishing well behind a very hot League Champion in Corrimal Rangers.

Both teams have enjoyed a good run going into the Final Series with Warilla only dropping five points in the second half of the season (draw against Fernhill & a narrow 3-2 loss to Corrimal in Rd 15).

Fernhill's second half was also strong, blemished with two draws and also a loss to Corrimal (1-3) way back in Round 11.

In speaking with Warilla Coach, Barney King, he has been reasonably happy with the Wanderers season having finished second in the League and also reaching the semi finals of the Bert Bampton Cup but a tad disappointed they weren't able to snare the promotion spot with the side that he had.

He expects his side to be at full strength for Saturday's clash with the only abscence being Chris Smith who has been out with a long term groin injury.

King is of the opinion that Fernhill have a small side (size) and he will be looking for set plays to catch them out. Barney is also looking forward to playing on Fernhill's home ground because he believes that the size of the ground will suit his side's style of play.

Warilla have enjoyed great success at this time of year and in King's time at the Club (six seasons) they have managed to reach five Grand Finals.

Fernhill's Daniel Mc Goldrick would also be happy with how his charges have gone in 2016. He has a strong squad at his disposal and the two Japanese imports, Akira Tatsubayshi who was outstanding in goals the last time they played Warilla and Kazuma Nagaishi who has scored 15 goals this season, have been integral members of the side.

The reward for today's winner will be a date with the Rangers for a spot in the Grand Final.

Tip: Warilla Wanderers

 

Reserve Grade - KO 12.15pm

Fernhill v Warilla Wanderers - Referee John Ruscica

Fernhill come into this fixture in hot form especially in front of goals having scored 16 goals in two wins over last weekend which left them with a very impressive total of 85 (almost 4 per game) and they weren't too shabby defensively only conceding 20 goals all up for the year.

Warilla ended their 22 games with a two-two draw with Helensburgh Thistle but the Wanderers were quite effective in attack as well with 70 goals to their credit for their efforts in the regular season.

However, the Foxes will start this game as favourites given the fact that they finished the season nine points in front of their opponents and also beat Warilla by five goals to two the last time they played in Round 16 with the first round fixture ending in a nil-nil draw which is rather odd given the two teams shared 155 goals between them.

The winner to play Thirroul FC for a spot in the Grand Final.

Tip: Fernhill

 

Youth Grade - KO 10.00am

Fernhill v Wests Illawarra - Referee Gareth Jenkins

Asis the case in the sudden death semi, Fernhill and Wests Illawarra also went on a goal scoring rampage during their 2016 campaign with both sides scoring over 90 goals each.

Cody Jones was the main man for the Foxes helping himself to 20 odd goals whilst Aiden Gallo and Emanuel Hondroudakis were the go to men for Wests.

Both sides had good wins to round off the season, with Fernhill accounting for Berkeley Sports by five goals to nil whilst Wests had a terrific win over Thirroul FC by four goals to one.

Wests Illawarra got slightly the better of Thirroul during the season with a resounding seven goals to three victory over Thirroul at Gibson Park way back in Round Three with the points being shared in a three all draw in Round 14. Based on the evidence of those two results alone, this could be the most entertaining of all the District League Finals today with plenty of goal mouth action on offer and enough to keep Wests stalwart, David Smolenaar biting his fingernails as his beloved Wests chase the dream.

Helensburgh Thistle await the winner next week where a spot in the Grand Final will be at stake.

Tip: Fernhill

 

By David Naylor

Photo Courtesy of Pedro Garcia (library archive)