The contest to be crowned PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2014 Champions begins this weekend with four exciting Elimination Finals to take place this Saturday (20 September 2014) in Tasmania, the ACT, Western Australia and Northern New South Wales.
The PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2014 Finals Series will see the Premiers from eight member federations compete in the three-week knockout competition.
Further to the honour of being NPL Champions, there is also the added incentive of the winning club receiving automatic entry into the Round of 32 of next year’s Westfield FFA Cup.
Saturday’s first match, which kicks off at 1.30pm (AEST), will pit last year’s National Premier Leagues runners-up, South Hobart FC, up against Football Federation Victoria Premiers South Melbourne FC in the Tasmanian capital.
South Hobart proved by far and away the best team in the Victory League this year, finishing eight points clear and losing just two games, while South Melbourne prevailed in a hotly contest Victorian league with a tally of 66 points from their 26 matches this season.
At 2.30pm (AEST) Capital Football’s Cooma Tigers will play host to Football NSW representative Bonnyrigg White Eagles. Established in 1952, Cooma claimed their maiden title this year, scoring an impressive 54 goals from their 16 matches, while Bonnyrigg upstaged last year’s NPL Champions Sydney United 58 FC and a host of other contenders to claim top spot in the IGA NPL NSW Mens 1 competition.
Football West’s Bayswater City and Football Federation South Australia’s MetroStars SC will lock horns in the west from 2.00pm (AWST). Coached by former Socceroo Chris Coyne, Bayswater took all before them this year, winning an unprecedented four trophies this season.
But MetroStars SC also pose a serious threat comprising of a number of former Hyundai a-League and National Youth League talent, and will be using their loss in last weekend’s grand final to spur them on to make it past this weekend.
Finally at 7.00pm (AEST) Northern NSW Football’s Weston Workers welcome runaway Football Queensland NPL Premiers Palm Beach Sharks to Rockwell Automation Park.
Despite finishing second on the table behind the Newcastle Jets Youth Team, Weston Workers find themselves in the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Finals Series due to youth teams from Hyundai A-League clubs being ineligible to qualify for the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Finals Series.
But for Weston to progress into the Semi Finals they must get past a formidable opponent in the shape of a Palm Beach side that won 17 of 26 games and went on to recently win the Queensland title decider.
The winners from Saturday’s four matches will move through to the semi finals, with the home clubs for the semi finals to be determined by a points system.
Tickets for all matches will be available at the venues on match day. There will also be a LIVE stream of South Hobart v South Melbourne and Weston Workers v Palm Beach Sharks. See the respective home member federation websites, www.footballfedtas.com.au and www.northernnswfootball.com.au for details.
PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2014 Elimination Finals Preview
GAME 1 – Weston Workers v Palm Beach Sharks
Rockwell Automation Park, Weston NSW
Saturday 20 September 2014
Kick-off: 7:00pm AEST
Referee: Glen Peterkin
Assistant Referee 1: Byron Jaye
Assistant Referee 2: Alex Merkel
Fourth Official: Trent Nash
Weston Workers squad: 1.Tim PRATT (GK), 2.Nathan MORRIS, 3.Robbie TURNBULL, 4.Brock OAKLEY, 5.Jye MACKELLAR, 6.Jason COWBURN, 7.Liam THORNTON, 8.Jacob GOLDING, 9.Michael RYAN, 10.Garry McDERMOTT, 11.Jamie SUBAT, 13.Carl THORNTON (c), 14.Jake MILLSTEED, 15.Thomas SPAARE, 16.Zac SNEDDON, 17.Jake BARNER, 19.Nick THOMPSON, 20.James WAND (GK), 31.Robert MACBETH, 40.James HARKIN (GK)
Coach: Steven Piggott
Palm Beach Sharks squad: 1.Shane VITAKANGAS (GK), 2.Riley DILLON, 3.Jordan MASON, 4.Ethan GRIMLEY, 6.Newie COBBO, 7.Justyn McKAY, 8.Ben BUTLER, 9.Christopher LUCAS, 10.Jarod KYLE, 11.Nikola MIRKOVIC, 12.Daniel GRZIC, 13.Scott GOLDSMITH-SCOTT, 14.Jonathon CAMILLERI, 15.Eoghan MURPHY, 16.Jack BOXELL, 17.Kristian REES, 18.Troy RUTHVEN, 19.Ike CAMPBELL, 20.Jack LITTLEJOHN (GK), 23.Karl DODD
Coach: Grae Piddick
GAME 2 – Cooma Tigers v Bonnyrigg White Eagles
AIS Athletics Field, Bruce ACT
Saturday 20 September 2014
Kick-off: 2:30pm AEST
Referee: Luke Withell
Assistant Referee 1: Owen Goldrick
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Powers
Fourth Official: Gary Vandeburgt
Cooma Tigers squad: 1.Jack PETITT (GK), 2.Aden JOHNSON, 3Jordano SAN MARTIN, 4.Iain ELLIOTT, 5.Domenick COLUCELLO, 6Jordan LANDO, 7.Goran JOSIFOVSKI, 8.James GAZY, 9.Robbert CATTANACH, 10.Dejan SANTRAC, 11.Steve DOMINICI, 12.Jared TONINI, 13.Rishabh SHARMA, 14.Sime CELESKI, 15.Stephan TODOROSKI, 16.Phil YARNOLD, 17.Jair WILK, 18.Daniel ROBERTS, 19.Jerry IBARRA, 22.Tom BARTON (GK)
Coach: Gaby Wilk
Bonnyrigg White Eagles squad: 1.James CHRONOPOULOS (GK), 2.Alexander MANSUETO, 4.David VRANKOVIC, 5.Chris TADROSSE, 6.Nikola ZONJIC, 8.Alexander CANAK, 9.Robert YOUNIS, 10.Tynan DIAZ, 12.Dylan FOX, 13.Adam JENNER, 14.Jordan CRIGHTON, 15.Steven ILIC, 16.Howard FONDYKE, 17.Mitchell OSMOND, 18.AdrianUCCHINO, 19.Arron PETERSON, 21.Bo Hyun CHUN, 22.Liam GOBBO (GK), 24.Alexander DOYLE, 26.Terek ERCAN
Coach: Brian Brown
GAME 3 – South Hobart v South Melbourne FC
South Hobart Ground, South Hobart TAS
Saturday 20 September 2014
Kick-off: 1:30pm AEST
Referee: Brenton Kopra
Assistant Referee 1: Jimmy Hortle
Assistant Referee 2: Simon Natoli
Fourth Official: Kim Baker
South Hobart squad: 1.Kane PIERCE (GK), 2.Liam SCOTT, 2.Caleb LUDLOW, 4.Jayden HEY, 5.Hugh LUDFORD, 6.Scott LAMONT, 7.Nicholas MORTON, 8.Joseph STEVENS, 9.Brayden MANN, 10.Andy BRENNAN, 11.Ben HAMLETT, 12.Christopher HUNT, 13.Hugh UNDY, 14.Matthew LEWIS, 15.Darcy HALL, 16.Connor KASS, 17.Chris DOWNES, 18.Tom ROACH, 19.Alex WALTER, 21.Mark MONCUR (GK)
Coach: Ken Morton
South Melbourne squad: 1.Jason SALDARIS (GK), 2.Tim MALA, 3.Andrew MULLLETT, 4.Michael EAGER (c), 6.Dimi TSIARAS, 7.Nick EPIFANO, 8.Matthew THEODORE, 9.Milos LUJIC, 10.Tyson HOLMES, 11.Brad NORTON, 12.Iqi JAWADI, 14.James MUSA, 15.Kobbie BOAHENE, 17.Jamie REED, 18.Dion KIRK, 21.Chris MAYNARD (GK), 23.Andy KECOJEVIC, 25.Shaun TIMMINS, 27.Leigh MINOPOULOS, 77.Stephen HATZIKOSTAS
Coach: Chris Taylor
GAME 4 – Bayswater City v MetroStars SC
Frank Drago Reserve, Bayswater WA
Saturday 20 September 2014
Kick-off: 2:00pm local (4:00pm AEST)
Referee: Adam Fielding
Assistant Referee 1: Josh Mannella
Assistant Referee 2: Stuart Muldoon
Fourth Official: Matt Southern
Bayswater City squad: 1.Devon SPENCE (GK), 2.Declan HARGREAVES, 3.Adam BACHILLER, 5.Andrew REALE, 6.Todd HOWARTH, 7.Jonathan SCHIRRIPA, 8.Paul McCARTHY, 9.Gustavo GIRON MARULANDA, 10.Damien CATALANO, 11.Gabriele COLLI, 13.Trent KAY, 14.Harrison BISSETT, 16.Jamie COYNE, 17.David MOLINARI, 18.James ISAIA, 19.Aaron DELANEY, 20.Samuel MITCHINSON, 21.David HEAGNEY, 23.Christopher SALDARIS, 25.Joel DRISCOLL (GK)
Coach: Chris Coyne
MetroStars SC squad: 2.David MENECHELLA, 3.Stefan CALI, 5.Lee ROBERTSON, 6.Anthony SOLAGNA, 7.Michael D’ALOISIO, 8.Rocky CALLISTO, 9.Steven GRELLI, 10.Andrew CIARLA, 11.Scott TUNBRIDGE, 12.Terry THEODOROU, 14.Adrian POLISENA, 15.Lawrence D’ARRIGO, 16.Andrew ORPHANOU, 18.Fabian BARBIERO, 19.Joseph POLISENA, 20.Daniel GODLEY (GK), 21.Adam VAN DOMMELE, 22.Alex COSIMIDIS, 23.Perry MITRIS, 30.Julian CALI (GK)
Coach: Ivan Karlovic
