Nerimbera versus Clinton in Football Qld Central Coast Premier League final

Father and son duo Gary and Sam Skinner hope to deliver Nerimbera victory in their Central Coast Premier League grand final showdown against Clinton. Read the preview here.

Defender Lachlan Riley has been one of Nerimbera's best in the 2023 Central Coast Premier League. Photo: ImageBox sportsphotography

Nerimbera will look to break a 20-year title drought in the Football Queensland Central Coast Premier League men’s competition on Saturday night.

They head to Gladstone to tackle minor premiers Clinton in the grand final at 7.30pm, desperate to hoist the Wesley Hall Cup for the first time since 2003.

But to do it they will have to take down an opponent that has gone through the 2023 season unbeaten and made their home ground a fortress.

It will be a big day for Clinton, which features in four of the grand finals to be played.

Their teams take on Frenchville in the under-16s and under-23 men at noon and 2.30pm respectively, and Bluebirds United in the Premier League women at 5pm.

The grand final program kicks off at 10am with the under-14 decider between Central and BITS.

Father and son Gary and Sam Skinner are excited about the prospect of winning the Wesley Hall Cup for Nerimbera on Saturday night.

Gary Skinner is in his first season as head coach at Nerimbera, guiding a team which includes his son and talented midfielder Sam.

Gary said his players had timed their run perfectly and proved their mettle in the finals series, winning both games in extra time.

“The last six, seven weeks the boys have been playing really, really well,” Gary said.

“We’ve converted the style of football we want to play. We play a lot of possession-based combination football, a lot of one and two touch football, and it’s been working for us.

“It’s helping us break teams down and give us opportunities.

“I think if we can do on Saturday night much the same as we’ve done in the back end of the season, then we’ll get chances, we’ve just got to be able to finish them.

Nerimbera captain Toby Richardson will be looking for a big game against Clinton.

“There’s two in the contest and we’re up for it.

“Nobody expected us to be here so let’s go make good of it.”

Nerimbera’s last grand final appearance was in 2012 against Clinton, whose most recent Wesley Hall win came in 2018.

Gary concedes it will be a “tough job” containing the red-hot Clinton side, which includes the competition’s two leading goal-scorers in Matthew Varnes and Liam Stephen.

Sam and fellow midfielders Jack Taffs and skipper Toby Richardson will have big roles to play, as will Lachlan Riley who has been a standout at the back.

Super striker Liam Stephen is among Clinton’s dangermen.

Gary said it was hard to single out individuals when every Nerimbera player was doing their job.

“Everyone’s been impressive because they’ve all worked really hard to improve and build a strong combination in the squad,” he said.

“It’s about the buy-in from all the players; they’ve stood up and said we want to be competitive, we want to be a strong side, we want to be different to what we used to be.

“What they see is what they play and they’re loving it and we’re seeing results from it.

“We haven’t played Clinton for a number of weeks and we’re a different side now to the one that they beat in our two previous games this season.

“This is a final - it’s a different story.”