AS far as the results are concerned, the North Coast Football men's first division finals have gone according to the script so far, but the scores don’t tell the real story on week one of the finals.
Coffs United Lions have gone through to their umpteenth grand final in a row, but what we saw from Maclean Bobcats on Saturday night was enough to suggest this year’s decider will be a genuine contest.
It seemed the Bobcats appreciated the 5pm kick-off as they jumped out to a 1-nil lead in the opening 10 minutes.
Some quality ball movement released Fraser Robinson wide on the right and he whipped in the perfect cross, which was met with a thumping header from strike partner Travis Armstrong to send the travelling Bobcats supporters into raptures.
It was a lead the Bobcats were to hold for most of the game and, considering the Lionesses had just lost to Urunga in extra time, it created plenty of “oh no” moments for the Den faithful.
The well-organised Bobcat defence kept the Lions to shooting from range until just before halftime when keeper Graeme Courte was forced into making a fine point blank save to maintain the visitor's 1-0 lead at the break.
The second half was quite physical and, unlike the women’s match where there no cards at all, the players saw plenty of yellow being flashed about (more about that in a moment).
Midway through the half the Lions got back on level terms when a long through ball was chased down by the speedy Ben Mackay and he made no mistake with a well-taken finish to get his team back on level terms.
From this point onwards, it became a real midfield battle and then with 10 minutes to go Coffs found the net again with a looping header at the far post.
The Bobcats pushed extra players forward in the hope of snatching an equaliser, but strong Lions’ keeper Josh Wiseman was equal to the task and the Lions were relieved to hear the final whistle.
On Sunday, all eyes were focused on Ayreshire Park to see who, out of Boambee Bombers and Sawtell, would face Maclean this Saturday for the other grand final spot.
And by ‘all eyes’ we mean the biggest crowd ever seen at the ground.
After 10 minutes it seemed like a foregone conclusion.
How hasty that thought was, for not only did we get a close-fought match, but the crowd was treated to an end-to-end thriller, only settled under the long shadows cast across the field during a penalty shootout.
To say Sawtell was caught napping is an understatement.
Brady Parker found the back of the net twice in the opening 10 minutes to put the Bombers 2-nil up before Sawtell had mounted any serious challenge.
The first goal came in about three minutes from a lofted cross, which Parker nodded in off the back part of his head.
The second a more regular tap in, but it meant Sawtell had to fight hard and all observers believe this is what made the match so memorable.
The conditions were tough for the goalkeepers, with Ayreshire Park becoming a bit of a dustbowl in front of goal.
In fact, the ground is showing signs of wear and tear after another long season and grass was a bit hard to find out there.
This, and the blustery conditions, had the effect of encouraging the players to play the ball in the air a lot, so at times the football had the crowd rubbing the back of their necks.
But as Johnny Warren was fond of saying, a 2-nil lead is the most difficult to defend and so it proved to be as the Scorpions struck back with two goals in the second half.
The first was a penalty expertly taken by Joel Parkin, who put it neatly inside the left post even though Jake Stitt picked the correct way to dive.
Stitt again showed his class between the sticks and was his club’s man of the match.
The fellow at the other end wasn’t bad either. Rod Simpson must be getting the most value for money of any player this year and has a midweek game with the Sawtell over-35s before this week is out as well.
Both ended the game with skin off their elbows and spitting out dust.
After 90 minutes it was locked at 2-all - a credit to Sawtell after what looked like no contest early on.
More drama was to follow in extra time as Sawtell took the lead through another penalty.
Again Parkin drilled it home and the travelling Sawtell supporters could see a famous come-from-behind victory coming.
That was until the final frenetic three minutes.
Boambee pounded the Sawtell goalmouth in the dying moments of extra time with corner after corner and shot after shot.
And just as the season looked to have slipped away, captain Wade Parker leaped up for a header, which went over Simpson and snuck in just under the bar for the equaliser.
The big crowd vocalised their appreciation (and Parker’s celebratory back flip wasn’t too bad either - perhaps it was inspired by Olympic gymnastics).
The game would be decided by kicks from the penalty mark and so many in the crowd moved in behind the posts to see the action up close.
It was even after two penalties each, but Boambee went one ahead when Sawtell missed their third.
The drama intensified as Simpson saved Boambee’s fourth attempt off Brady Parker and memories of last year began to torment the maroon supporters.
However Sawtell also missed its fourth attempt, so when Boambee scored from their fifth attempt, it was all over.
Boambee won 4-2 on penalties after the match finished 2-2 in regular time and 3-3 after extra time.
Preliminary final
So Boambee will make the trip up the Pacific Highway to Maclean on Saturday to face the Bobcats on Barry Watts Oval.
It is one game each in the head-to-head battle this year; each team winning when they were at home, so the stats say Maclean will be hard to beat.
But it's finals football and anything can happen.
Women’s first division
It was a relief to finally see some goals scored between arch rivals Coffs United Lionesses and Urunga Raiders - and score they did.
With the Lionesses narrowly pipping Urunga for the premiership, the Raiders came out fighting to ensure they at least made up for last year’s disappointing finals exit.
A good crowd was building for a day of finals at the Den and with the men’s game scheduled to kick-off at the earlier time of 5pm, this game was put back to 1pm.
Urunga was first on the board with a goal early in the first half, but Coffs struck back before halftime to have them level pegging at oranges.
It was the reverse order in the second half, with the Lionesses going ahead briefly before Urunga found the equaliser, which would take them into extra time.
Urunga’s goal in the first period of extra time proved the difference and brought the scoreline to 2-3 at the end of the 120 minutes.
From all who saw it, this match was considered worthy of a grand final, with end-to-end play and quality finishing rather than mistakes proving the difference.
In the minor semi-final, Woolgoolga Wildcats have been one of the form teams of the second half of the season.
Their combinations are settled and working well and they went into their home minor semi against northern rivals Corindi Red Rock full of confidence having beaten them only two weeks before.
Woolgoolga’s High Street is often a windy ground, but this bordered on ridiculous as gale force winds affected even the simplest of plays.
Just before this game kicked off, a junior match ended in a penalty shootout where the ball was being blown off the spot before the kicker could get to it!
But the stakes were high and that brought out the best in both teams.
Corindi’s season took a turn for the worst in the 20th minute when Hannah Moody was injured in a clash and taken to hospital in considerable pain with what everyone suspected was a broken leg.
Thankfully X-rays revealed only a chipped bone in the shin for which Hannah was prescribed some painkillers and a decent bandage.
Considering Hannah is herself a nurse, her recovery should be well managed.
It was 0-all at halftime and the tackles became even heavier in the second half, leading to a few yellows being shown.
With three minutes to go, Corindi conceded a free kick that was accompanied by another yellow card.
Woolgoolga’s reliable sweeper Fiona Tobin typically smashed the ball to the target.
It was only parried away by the Corindi keeper and was slammed home by midfielder Belinda Schofield (as Kim Batty pointed out which direction the goal was!).
Preliminary final
Coffs United Lionesses will now host Woolgoogla Wildcats this Saturday for a spot in the grand final.
Yellow cards
Remember, the yellow cards slate was wiped clean for the start of the finals, so every player went into the finals with no marks against their name, however, the pressure is on to keep it clean.
During the finals, any player who receives a total of two yellow cards throughout the series will be suspended for one match.
So, if a player received a yellow during a minor semi-final and then receives a yellow during this week’s preliminary final, he/she is not eligible to play in the grand final.