Australia is about to witness PS4 NPL football at its finest as the nation’s best face their Elimination Finals destiny this weekend. It's do-or-die, so do not miss a moment of the action.
GAME 1 – Moreton Bay United v Edgeworth FC
MATCH DETAILS
Queensland Sports & Athletic Centre, Nathan QLD
Saturday 19 September 2015
Kick-off: 7:30pm AEST
Twitter: Follow LIVE updates at @nplqld @NNSWF
Join in the conversation using hashtag #MBUvEDG
Moreton Bay United squad: 1.Luke BOREAN (gk), 2.Matthew ZAPPONE, 3.Scott STEWART, 4.Alex HENDERSON, 5.Ryota NAKAOOKA, 6.Liam PREVITERA, 7.Jordan FARINA, 8.Matthew CAPELO, 9.Royce BROWNLIE, 10.Stephen GREEN, 11.Charles MENDY, 12.Samuel DICKINSON, 13.Joseph CHAMPNESS, 14.Scott DYKMAN, 15.Jayke CUSCHIERI, 16.Rowan HEGGIE, 17.Jackson HALL, 18.Chom AROP, 19.Jacob MITCHELL, 20.Jake CLANCY (gk), 21.Finn BEAKHURST
Head Coach: Adam Piddick
Edgeworth FC squad: 1.Jim FOGARTY (gk), 2.Bray SMITH, 3.Aaron MCLOUGHLIN, 4.Ayden BRICE, 5.Brady CARR, 6.Lachlan PASQUALE, 7.Bren ABBOTT-HAMMEL, 8.Joshua EVANS, 9.Brody TAYLOR, 10.Keanu MOORE, 11.Dylan HOLZ, 12.Brenton OLZOMER, 13.Aaron PRITCHARD, 14.Justin TANNOCK, 15.Patrick WHEELER, 16.Joshua CARROLL, 17.Domenico BIZZARRI, 18.Samuel MAXWELL, 19.Liam SPURWAY, 24.Benjamin SMITH (gk)
Head Coach: Damian Zane
BLUFFER’S GUIDE
A state of origin battle of sorts awaits as the Queensland champions host the best from Northern NSW. It should ensure plenty of extra spice in this intriguing match-up at QSAC.
Moreton Bay upstaged some big clubs in Queensland to surge to this season’s title and they will plan to ride that momentum towards national glory.
Sunday’s gripping 2-1 PS4 NPL Queensland win over Brisbane Strikers is the start of what they will hope is a golden few weeks for the club.
For free-scoring Edgeworth, they’ll head north with the benefit of an extra week’s rest and the experience against Melbourne City in the Westfield FFA Cup round of 32.
And while they were narrowly beaten on that night, pushing a Hyundai A-League club all the way is sure to give Damien Zane’s troops a bit of extra confidence, while they also won their local decider 2-0 against Hamilton Olympic last week
A few goals are likely at QSAC as two attack-minded sides do battle.
Players to watch:
Jordan Farina (Moreton Bay)
Brody Taylor (Edgeworth FC)
GAME 2 – Blacktown City FC v Canberra FC
Lilys Football Stadium, Blacktown NSW
Sunday 20 September 2015
Kick-off: 4:00pm AEST
Twitter: Follow LIVE updates at @NPLNSW @CapitalFootball @BlacktownCityFC
Join in the Twitter conversation using hashtag #BLCvCFC
Blacktown City squad: 1.Nenad VEKIC (gk), 3.Giorgio SPERANZA, 4.Yianni FRAGOGIANNIS, 5.George TIMOTHEOU, 6.Matthew LEWIS, 7.Travis MAJOR, 8.Sasa MACURA, 9.Joseph GIBBS, 10.Christos TOMARAS, 11.Danny SEUNG-JOO CHOI, 12.Daniel ARAUJO, 13.Tristan PRENDERGAST (gk), 14.Mitchell MALLIA, 15.Sam PERRE, 16.Patrick ANTELMI, 17.Lewis BEUMIE, 18.Jonathan GROZDANOVSKI, 19.Zachary CAIRNCROSS, 20.Connor EVANS, 21.Yianni PERKATIS, 26.Eoin MONTFORD, 29.Patrick FLOTTMAN, 31.Juan ZAPATA
Head Coach: Mark Crittenden
Canberra FC squad: 1.Sam BROWN (gk), 2.Tony SPASEKI, 3.Christian PRATEZINA, 4.Thomas MILICEVIC, 5.Izach CLEMENTS, 6.Daniel SUBASIC, 7.Robert DEELEY, 8.Ian GRAHAM, 9.Thomas JAMES, 10.Muad ZWED, 11.Marko VRKIC, 12.Kye EDWARDS, 13.Daniel BENNETT, 14.Josip JADRIC, 15.Jordan LAMB, 16.Max MOTTL, 17.Aidan BRUNSKILL, 18.Alex LAZAROV, 19.Nikolas BARISIC, 20.James FIELD, 21.Niko KRESIC, 22.Shaun BURKE (gk), 23.Nathan EVANS
Head Coach: Zoran Glabanic
BLUFFER’S GUIDE
For Blacktown City, they’ve been superb throughout the NSW NPL season, romping to the minor premiership.
But they went down 2-0 in their grand final on Sunday in a disappointing way to end a brilliant campaign. And being knocked out of the Westfield FFA Cup at home – after being a goal up at the break – was another troubling sign in recent times.
They’ll have to put that behind them quickly with Canberra FC heading to Lilys Football Stadium. The Demons will rely on their explosive, attacking talent to help them rebound and with a big crowd behind them at home they’ll fancy their chances.
Like Blacktown, Canberra FC also have to recover from a grand final defeat on Sunday, as they were humbled 3-1 by Canberra Olympic.
It’s the club’s second tilt at the national NPL crown, having been the ACT’s representative’s in the inaugural competition in 2013.
Whichever side bounces back best from the disappointment of last weekend should come out on top in this one.
Players to watch:
Patrick Antelmi (Blacktown City)
Daniel Bennett (Canberra FC)
GAME 3 – South Melbourne FC v Olympia FC
Lakeside Stadium, VIC
Saturday 19 September 2015
Kick-off: 4:00pm AEST
Twitter: Follow LIVE updates at @smfc @nplvictoria @olywarriors @FootballFedTas
Join in the Twitter conversation using hashtag #SMBvOLY
South Melbourne squad: 1.Nikola ROGANOVIC (gk), 2.Tim MALA, 3.Kristian KONSTANTINIDIS, 4.Michael EAGAR, 5.Luke ADAMS, 6.Thomas LAKIC, 7.Nicholas EPIFANO, 8.Mathew THEODORE, 9.Milos LUJIC, 10.David STIRTON, 11.Bradley NORTON, 12.Iqbal JAWADI, 13.Dane MILOVANOVIC, 14.Chris IRWIN, 15.Cody MARTINDALE, 16.Andrew BEVIN, 20.Nicholas MORTON, 21.Jake BARKER-DAISH, 22.Fraser MACLAREN (gk), 23.Andy KECOJEVIC, 27.Leigh MINOPOULOS, 77.Stephen HATZIKOSTAS
Head Coach: Chris Taylor
Olympia FC squad: 1.Sean LEWIS (gk), 2.Jacob HERBERT, 3.Harry WOOLLEY, 4.Shae HICKEY, 5.Luke EYLS, 6.Nicholas MEARNS, 7.Warren WADAWU, 8.William ROBERTS, 9.Emmanuel TSAKIRIS, 10.Gavin HOY, 11.Nicholas MEREDITH, 13.Christian DI MARTINO, 14.Jonathan GRIFFITHS, 15.Lachlan NICHOLS, 16.Jake VANDERMAY, 17.Alessandro BELLINI, 18.Jack CALLAN, 19.Stuart PAGE, 20.James ACKERLEY, 21.Spiros PARADISIS (gk)
Head Coach: Glen McNeill
BLUFFER’S GUIDE
Redemption will be on the minds of South Melbourne after the ambitious Victorian club failed to make the most of their appearance in last season’s national finals.
Chris Taylor’s side want to make a mark on the national stage again and this would be the perfect platform, with an automatic berth back into the Westfield FFA Cup next year at stake over the next three weeks.
They head into this one after a heart-breaking grand final defeat in Victoria on Sunday, losing 3-1 to Bentleigh Greens after extra-time at Lakeside.
But South will still start warm favourites against Olympia FC, although they would be foolish to underestimate the Tasmanian outfit.
Renowned for bringing down the big guns during their title-winning season in Tassie, Olympia will head to Lakeside Stadium disciplined, well-structured and with nothing to lose.
Unlike South Melbourne, Olympia were able to get the job done in their local grand final, running out 3-1 winners against Hobart Zebras.
Players to watch:
Nicholas Epifano (South Melbourne)
Gavin Hoy (Olympia FC)
GAME 4 – West Adelaide SC v Bayswater City SC
Adelaide Shores Football Centre, West Beach SA
Sunday 20 September 2015
Kick-off: 2:30pm local (3:00pm AEST)
Twitter: Follow LIVE updates at @WestAdelaideSC @BayswaterCitySC @FFSANPL
Join in the Twitter conversation using hashtag #WADvBWC
West Adelaide SC squad: 1.Lewis MOSS (gk), 2.Milos TOSIC, 3.Lewis VALLELONGA, 4.Thomas VEART, 5.Robin LIPPETT, 6.Elias VLASSIS, 8.Kosta MANTIS, 9.Alexander RIDEOUT, 10.Ricardo DA SILVA, 11.Thomas BRISCOE, 12.John KARATZAS, 13.Matthew BOUZALAS, 14.Nathan ANDIJANTO, 15.Alexandros KOUTOULOGENIS, 16.Connor PAPANICOLAS, 17.Osman FOFANA, 18.Christian VERBI, 20.Tony HATZIS, 21.Daniel ATKINS (gk), 23.Mitchell NICHOLSON
Head Coach: Paul Pezos
Bayswater City squad: 1.Devon SPENCE (gk), 2.Declan HARGREAVES, 3.Aaron DELANEY, 4.Kostantinos SPARTA, 5.Ayden DRAGUN, 6.Todd HOWARTH, 7.Jamie MURPHY, 9.Gustavo GIRON-MARULANDA, 11.Corey BARCLAY, 12.Adam TONG, 13.Trent KAY, 14.Danny DIXON, 15.Brian FARRELL, 16.Jamie COYNE, 17.Bor Bor SAM, 19.Alex WILD, 20.Sam MITCHINSON, 21.David HEAGNEY, 22.Pasquale GIOFFRE (gk),23.Chris SALDARIS, 24.Patients ILAHAMBAYE, 25.Jason SALDARIS (gk)
Head Coach: Chris Coyne
BLUFFER’S GUIDE
Chris Coyne’s Bayswater head to Adelaide on the back of an undefeated season in WA, winning an incredible 19 (with three draws) from their 22 league games.
In their second straight year in PS4 National Premier League’s Australian finals, Bayswater have experience on their side as well as a squad with some A-League experience.
In short, “Baysie” are on fire this year.
But West Adelaide has also enjoyed a memorable campaign and will be hoping to emulate fellow South Australian club MetroStars who took out last year’s event.
They completed the double on Saturday by beating Adelaide Blue Eagles in the grand final 4-2, with goals from John Karatzas, Tom Briscoe, Kosta Mantis and Alex Rideout.
It’s hard to pick a winner in this one in what should be a titanic struggle at Adelaide Shores.
Players to watch:
Tom Briscoe (West Adelaide)
Gustavo Giron Marulanda (Bayswater City)
**In order to determine the host Member Federation and clubs for the semi-finals and grand final, the following points system will be applied at the conclusion of each stage:
|
Win within 90 minutes |
3 points |
|
Win during extra time |
2 points |
|
Win on penalties |
1 point |
|
Goals For (excluding penalty shootouts) |
3 points |
|
Goals Against (excluding penalty shootouts) |
-1 point |
|
Yellow Card |
-1 point |
|
Red Card |
-3 points |