Both the 12 Boys and the Men’s Open team will be playing FNSW Premier League Finals this weekend at Mascot in Sydney as a first step in getting their hands on an end of season trophy!
Both games will be played at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre in Alexandria, Sydney
with the 12 Boys kicking off a big day of finals at 10.00am and the Open Men
rounding out the day with a 6.15pm kick off.
12 Boys
The 12 Boys have done it the hard way, qualifying with a win in their last game of the season against Inner West Magic — and with that win, they have finished the regular season in third place on the final competition ladder with seven wins and a single draw from their 14 games this season. Minor Premiers were Campbelltown Quake (ten wins and a draw), in second were Inner West Magic (eight wins, four draws) and rounding out the top four were the other Majik -from the Mountains – also on seven wins and a draw.
So the semi finals this week see 1 v 2 in a qualifying final with the winner going straight through to the Grand Final and the loser matching up next week with the winner of the Boomerangs v Majik elimination semi-final. There will be no second chance for the loser of this game this weekend.
The Boomerangs and Majik have faced off twice already this season with the Boomerang Boys victorious in Round 10 at Hawkesbury comfortably taking the points by a six goal to two margin. Earlier in Round 3 at the AIS, it was the Majik that edged out the Boomerangs youngest boys by a solitary goal 2-1. With the honours split, and going to the away teams during the regular rounds, it will be difficult to pick a result in this semi final played on a neutral court.
Since they last met in December, both teams have won 2, drawn 1 and lost 1. There appears to be nothing to split the teams – so it will likely come down to the team that wants it the most, plays to their plan under pressure and handles the finals situation best.
Interestingly, the Boomerangs 12s were the top scoring team during the season with 56 goals (Av 4.0 per game), but also conceded equal second most amount of goals at 52 (Av 3.7 per game). Majik on the other hand have scored less goals (42 @ 3 Av per game) and conceded less goals (38 @ Av 2.7 per game). The game may also hinge on the ability of the Boomerangs boys to defend well and not to concede too many goals!
Good Luck to the Boys!
Open Men
The Boomerangs Open Men’s team have been the club’s stand out team this season, performing week-in week-out throughout the season. A talented group of individual players that enjoy playing together resulting in some sparkling individual and team performances throughout the season.
The Men finished the regular season with a comfortable 9-5 win over fellow finalists Inner West Magic. The teams went into the final round with top spot already sewn up by Dural, but the other three positions in the final four were up for grabs. So a solid win by the Boomerangs in the last regular round of the season was important – as was continuing the winning momentum. As it was, second place came their way and they finished the season with nine wins and a draw and only four losses. Dural, as Minor Premiers, finished with 10 wins, and two draws/two losses. In third, behind Boomerangs on goal difference alone were Campbelltown Quake and Magic in fourth on eight wins/six losses.
So week one of the finals sees the Boomerangs up against Dural Warriors in the qualifying final and Quake taking on Magic in the elimination final.
The Boomerangs Men and Dural have matched up well in recent times and their similar playing styles usually ensure a close and even tussle. Earlier in the season – in Round 1 – the Boomerangs shocked Dural with a 3-1 victory at mPowerdome. However the tables were turned in Round 8 at Dural, with the Warriors taking out that match by a solitary goal 3-2.
On form, the Warriors have had a superior second half of the season, dropping only their last match (while resting a few players) against fellow finalists Quake. Aside from that loss in the final round they have been unbeaten since their Round 1 loss against the Boomerangs and have had their winning run interrupted only by two draws only during the first half of the season (Rd 5 and Rd7). The Boomerangs on the other hand flew out of the box this season with only a single draw and a single loss during the first half of the season, suffering three further defeats during the back end. Admittedly, there were many games in the second half of the season where key players were injured or unavailable and the team was not at full strength.
Reinforcing the challenge that faces the Open Men’s team this weekend are the season stats that shows Dural Warriors as both the best attacking team (79 goals @ 5.6 per game) and the best defensive team during the regular season (conceding only 32 goals @ 2.3 goals per game). Boomerangs were the second best offensive team with 68 goals (@ 4.9 per game) and with the third best defensive record conceding 42 goals (@ 3 goals per game). The Boomerangs Men though, have shown this season that they can match it with Dural and on both occasions the matches have been low scoring (3-1 win and 2-3 loss).
So the winner will progress straight to the Grand Final two weeks later, and the loser will need to battle it out through another tough encounter with either Inner West Magic or Campbelltown Quake. The direct path – giving a week off – is always the best path!
Good luck to the Boomerangs Men this weekend!