Bonnyrigg White Eagles ready for NPL Finals

Bonnyrigg WE v Sydney Olympic 17th August 2014 CiMAGE By Chris Nesci

IGA NPL NSW Mens 1 Premiers Bonnyrigg White Eagles will be representing NSW in the upcoming NPL Finals Series set to kick off on Saturday 20th of September.

The White Eagles, coached by Scotsman Brian ‘Bomber’ Brown, will face Capital Football’s Premiers Cooma Tigers at the AIS Athletics Field with kick off set for 2:30pm.

NSW holds the current trophy as Mark Rudan’s Sydney United 58 FC tasted success in the inaugural season of the NPL Finals downing South Hobart FC in the Final 2-0 in Tasmania.

The National Premier Leagues (NPL) Finals Series is a national competition for the winning team of each state division. The Premiers within each Member Federation NPL division progress to the NPL Finals Series.

Five Member Federations competed in the inaugural NPL Finals Series last year, but in 2014 it has been expanded to eight entrants vying to be crowned NPL 2014 Champions.

The format

The NPL 2014 Finals Series will take place over a three week period with matches to be played over the weekends of September 20/21 and September 27/28 culminating in the Final which will be held on either October 4 or 5.

Every match in the Finals Series is to be sudden-death, with extra time and penalties to be played out if required.

The makeup and grouping of the Elimination Finals has been based on geographic location. As such, the Member Federations that have been coupled together are Northern NSW Football and Football Queensland, Capital Football and Football NSW, Football Federation Tasmania and Football Federation Victoria (FFV), and Football West with Football Federation South Australia (FFSA).

Each year, the host Member Federation within the Elimination Finals shall alternate to provide all Federations with the opportunity to host every second year.

In order to determine the host Federation for the Semi Finals and Final, the following points system will apply at the conclusion of each stage of the Finals Series:

Win within regulation time = 3 points

Win during extra time = 2 points

Win in penalty shootout = 1 point

Goals scored (excluding penalty shootouts) = 3 points 

Goals conceded (excluding penalty shootouts) = -1 point

Yellow cards = -1 point

Red cards = -3 points

The clubs

A club from Capital Football, Football NSW, Northern NSW Football, Football Queensland, Football Federation South Australia, Football Federation Tasmania, Football Federation Victoria and Football West will compete in the NPL 2014 Finals Series.

The clubs for each Member Federation are as follows: 

·       Cooma Tigers (Capital Football)

·        Bonnyrigg White Eagles (Football NSW)

Weston Workers (Northern NSW Football)

Palm Beach Sharks (Football Queensland)

MetroStars SC (Football Federation South Australia)

South Hobart (Football Federation Tasmania)

South Melbourne (Football Federation Victoria)

Bayswater City (Football West)

The schedule

The draw for the 2014 Finals Series is as follows:

Elimination Finals

Game 1 – Weston Workers v Palm Beach Sharks

Saturday 20 September 2014 (Kick-Off 7:00pm AEST)

Rockwell Automation Park, Weston NSW

Game 2 – Cooma Tigers v Bonnyrigg White Eagles

Saturday 20 September 2014 (Kick-Off 2:30pm AEST)

AIS Athletics Field, Bruce ACT

Game 3 – South Hobart v South Melbourne

Saturday 20 September 2014 (Kick-Off 1:30pm AEST)

South Hobart Ground, South Hobart TAS 

Game 4 – Bayswater City v MetroStars SC

Saturday 20 September 2014 (Kick-Off 2:00pm local time, 4:00pm AEST)

Frank Drago Reserve, Bayswater WA

Semi Finals (27/28 September 2014)

Game 5 – Winner of Game 1 v Winner of Game 2

Game 6 – Winner of Game 3 v Winner of Game 4

Grand Final (4/5 October 2014)

Game 7 – Winner of Game 5 v Winner of Game 6