I'll take any NL1 team replacing an NPL underperformer anyday.
The more chaos the better.
{laughs at New Lambton again}
At least next year there will be no bitching about who invented the eagle.
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Southy were a basket case for much of the season but pulled it together when it counted. Couldve gone either way.
Southy also beat Thornton and drew so justice probably served.
Stags arent good enough to beat Valo in the playoffs for mine.
Out of all the possibilities, I doubt many thought Thornton would be the unlucky ones to go down going into the final day.
Cessnock were bottom and got some important wins against Thornton and Toronto,
Wallsend bottom and got some important wins against Thornton, Dudley and a draw against Westy
Southy bottom and got some important wins against Singleton, Toronto and a draw against Thornton.
Thornton unfortunate - but didn?t get any wins on the road home.
I feel bad for Thornton. Such a tight competition this year. No clear relegation-worthy team. Even Thornton were a (14-0) win away from playing finals.
Previous years somebody has finished dead last, well and truly off the pace and probably more deserving than the 2025 Thornton team. But that?s football. Think they will do okay in ZL1.
Perhaps a bit of a reality check for a few clubs this year.
Thought the game wasn?t too bad. Both teams defended well and seemed intent on not going behind. Fair enough. Southy keeper made an important stop. Singo should have scored there. Southy just struggled to transition to the final third. Thought their transitions between backs and midfield was pretty good. Just that final transition into final third attack was lacking, they didn?t look to cause many concerns of Singo until the last 10.
Thought 10 for Southy was great. Ran the midfield well. Made some important tackles. Distributed well.
Defence also did well - didn?t overcommit and managed to keep Singo?s skilful attack under control.
Looks like they channeled some Southy Spirit. Good to see lots of the youth getting there to support the seniors.
Kahibah in the early game had that game management ability of a NPL team. Happy to just control the ball. Able to fight the battle to win it back and then drop it back to the backs out of danger.
Sorry, I meant more that they should be able to recruit, maintain a reasonable squad.
Comparative to Southy, who I think may have struggled to keep a competitive squad unless they recruited from Cardiff, Warners bay etc.
Zone league 1 don’t have any teams up that way so may be an avenue for players from the area to play in that comp.
As it stands, I agree, I think they would be mid table.
So playoffs are in:
Valo v Singo - Valo should get the W here, I dont think Singo can put 90 minutes together. We'll see
Stags v Westy - Cant pick this one. Stags won both this year but westy have some form right now.
Singo were really disappointing. No urgency, no desire. I really sleepy match. I would have thought Singo would have pushed hard to avoid meeting Valo, but they just didn't seem interested.
There is no doubt Southy have improved a lot since the change of coach. Still, they showed little urgency and were lucky to survive.
Credit to Wallsend for surviving. Let's hope they can take that and build something. Another poor season next year in both seniors and youth can't be acceptable. Hard work ahead.
Thornton should be a powerhouse club in that expanding area of the region. Sad that they haven't been able to harness it.
I agree with Red. Southy played it perfect. If they had of gone out all guns blazing and Singo pinched an early it would have been worst possible thing. They were patient controlled the middle of the park and tried to pinch a set piece. Singo played into their hands cause they looked scared to concede so were very passive
Have to applaud nnswf this weekend having all first grade fixtures at speers point because of the weather. Had a good atmosphere around all games right next to each other with relegation battles. One of their best
Yes one more win over the year and Southy would be in the play-offs.
Very tight competitive competition, apart from 1st and 2nd only 6 points separated 3rd and 10th. Had a result or two for any of those 8 teams gone the other way we would've been talking about other teams being relegated.