EFL: North Ringwood in contention to feature in first Division 1 finals series in 27 years
NORTH Ringwood is being driven by the opportunity to feature in its first Eastern Football League Division 1 finals campaign in more than a quarter of a century.
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NORTH Ringwood is being driven by the opportunity to feature in its first Eastern Football League Division 1 finals campaign in more than a quarter of a century.
The Saints sit on the edge of the top five after the opening six rounds of the season with a 4-2 record as they look to end a 27-year finals drought in the top flight.
North Ringwood’s only Division 1 finals appearance came in 1991 when the Saints advanced to the preliminary final.
After relegation from Division 2 in 2008, the Saints have risen back into the top tier after flags in 2013 and 2015 to be a finals contender this year under two-time premiership coach Brett Moyle.
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Moyle said his side’s start to the campaign had generated confidence the Saints could crack a top-five berth and join the 1991 side as the only North Ringwood team to feature in a Division 1 finals series.
“I think a lot of these boys, our core, some of them have come from Division 3,” he said. “(Jack) Whelan, (Jayden) Van Unen, a few of these boys have come the whole journey and it would be great for them to play in a big final at Bayswater.
“It would be great to see what they can do, I think it is within their grasp but obviously there is seven or eight pretty good sides.”
North Ringwood’s only poor performance of the season to this point was a 59-point defeat against Blackburn in Round 5.
But testing assignments against defending premier South Croydon and finals fancy Doncaster in the next fortnight could prove telling to the Saints’ finals ambitions.
“I’m reasonably happy with how we’re gelling and competing and working together as a team,” Moyle said.
“Would probably like to be able to score a little bit more, that’s probably one issue we’ve had, even in the games we’ve won.
“We haven’t hit the scoreboard too heavily but I think our strength is in that we don’t rely too heavily on one or two people, we’ve got a pretty even spread of contributors.”
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