After a whirlwind opening 10 rounds of the competition, the McDonald’s Northern Inland Premier League takes a breather this weekend.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
With a competition-wide bye in affect, teams will use the time off to rest up their weary bodies for the run home into the finals.
The four Armidale sides trail runaway competition leaders Joeys FC in the northern conference.
Only two weeks ago Joeys appeared locks for the northern conference minor premiership, but two consecutive losses to East Armidale and Demon Knights have revealed chinks in their armour.
East has overcome a sluggish start to the season to rumble their way into second spot on 14 points, five behind Joeys’ 19.
Astonishingly, East has been able to overcome a minus four goal difference to work its way into second.
They are tied with DK for the least amount of goals scored with 14, but still boast four wins from nine matches to go with two draws and three losses.
Third placed North Armidale haven’t had any trouble hitting the back of the net. The Redmen have scored 23 goals through their nine matches and find themselves trailing East by just a point on the ladder.
North’s goal difference of plus five could play into their favour when semi-final spots are decided later in the season.
Demon Knights sit in fourth on 12 points, but have a game in hand on all of the top three sides.
A win in their next game would catapult DK into second, to add to their current record of four wins from eight matches.
Surprisingly South Armidale sit in the cellar of the northern conference on seven points, five points behind closest rivals DK.
However, South have two games in hand on the leaders due to their FFA Cup commitments earlier in the season.
South have won just two of their seven matches in the NIPL, but are expected to make a late run at the semi-finals with their FFA Cup campaign finally over.
NIPL action will return next weekend with a cross conference round.