Your guide to the FNQ Premier League finals
The target on the back of Edge Hill United is getting bigger by the day, but captain Josh De Nittis and his premiership-winning team are not fussed in their hunt for a fourth consecutive FNQ Premier League championship title.
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The target on the back of Edge Hill United is getting bigger by the day, but captain Josh De Nittis and his premiership-winning team are not fussed in their hunt for a fourth consecutive FNQ Premier League championship title.
The Tigers were crowned premiers two months ago, winning the league by an astonishing 19 points, as they flexed their offensive muscle week-in, week-out, in their pursuit of history.
A dream FFA Cup run to the Round of 32 allowed Edge Hill Utd to perform on the national stage, but their focus is to become the first men’s team in more than three decades to claim three straight trebles.
Standing in their way will be three teams who believe they can be the ones to halt the Tigers’ run of dominance, and it all starts with the qualifying final on Saturday night.
QUALIFYING FINAL
Edge Hill Utd (1st, 49pts) v Leichhardt (2nd, 30pts) at Tiger Park.
Edge Hill United has developed a culture of success in recent seasons, in which it has swept to every piece of silverware on offer, and with that big-game experience captain Josh De Nittis is well aware of how the club is viewed by its rivals.
“The feeling is great. The boys have been together for three years now … the feeling’s great.
“We’ve been here before, hopefully we can have the same outcome and lift the bar higher.
“We know we have a big ‘x’ on our back because we’ve won the grand final the last three years and the premiership the last two years, so we know the ‘x’ is getting bigger.
“Pressure always does build when you get into the business end of the season with the semi-finals coming up. We know we’re the team to beat, so we’ll stick to our game.”
Leichhardt has built its Premier League campaign around young talent, with strike duo Seamus Fowler and Declan McAlister playing beyond their years at the top of the line-up.
Experienced midfielder Alex Russell said it was young players like them who had stepped up and made the difference as the Lions roared to second after a slowish start.
“The young lads have all stepped up. We weren’t sure at the start of the year where we’d be with the young lads,” Russell said.
“We knew the quality Seamus had but Dec had a handful of games at the end of last season; he’s ended up doing superb with Seamus.
“The young lads have really stepped up and got us to the position we’re in really. These old heads have been steady, but the young lads have brought us to the position we’re in.”
Edge Hill Utd will be wary of Leichhardt’s young guns, especially given their last clash ended in a 2-2 draw, but De Nittis didn’t put his players under any more pressure.
“Everyone needs to step up,” De Nittis said. “We can’t look to one person – we need the strikers scoring goals, Kevvie and the defence keeping the balls out, we need the midfield to work … We can’t put pressure on anyone, it’s a team sport and we have to do it together.
“Leichhardt is one of the two teams to take points off us so we’ll have that in the back of our minds.
“It doesn’t matter who it is, we want to win and make it to the final as quick as possible.”
ELIMINATION FINAL
Mareeba Utd (3rd, 27pts) v Stratford (4th, 27pts) at Lindsay Australia Stadium.
Mareeba United shocked the competition on its way to the grand final last season, but the Bulls of 2021 are determined to make an even bigger impact at the business end of the FNQ Premier League season.
The Bulls fought their way into last year’s decider from third, and will look to do the same as they chase their first piece of silverware in years.
Mareeba Utd captain and centre midfielder Robert Pendenza said the season was a rollercoaster ride for the Bulls, who could have finished higher if not for a few results
“Up and down is the perfect words for it,” Pendenza said of the season.
“We’ve had players in and out … but we’re just happy we made the top four, stoked to get the home semi, and everyone knows semi-finals are different to the season so we’re going to be full guns blazing come Sunday,” Pendenza said.
“It’s down to the boys on the pitch. Mareeba has a good heritage and we want to keep it going.”
Stratford went from finishing second-last in 2020 to equal third this year, by far the league’s biggest improvers, and captain Matthew Murray said that feat was reflected in the mood among the players.
The Dolphins are very well aware of how big the stakes are on Sunday evening, with the losing team’s season coming to a tough end just two games short of the grand final, but centre back Murray said it just highlighted the importance of being switched on from the first whistle.
“It just concretes how important every game is, we really need to put in (or) there might not be another game after this,” Murray said.
“We had a big conversation with the lads (after training on Tuesday), and we’re confident we’ll show up.”
THE SCHEDULE
Qualifying final
Edge Hill Utd v Leichhardt at Tiger Park, from 7.30pm on Saturday.
Elimination final
Mareeba Utd v Stratford at Lindsay Australia Stadium, from 5.30pm on Sunday.
YOUR GUIDE TO THE FNQ WOMEN’S PREMIER LEAGUE FINALS
It is a whole new ball game for the FNQ Women’s Premier League’s top four teams as the hunt for the championship begins on Friday.
Undefeated premiers Edge Hill United are celebrating their second league title, but are focused on claiming the treble - and that means winning the grand final for the first time since 2019 before defending the Crad Evans.
Leichhardt won the grand final last year and want to repeat, while Mareeba Utd and JCU Strikers will endure sudden death finals as they chase an upset title win.
QUALIFYING FINAL
Edge Hill Utd (1st, 49pts) v Leichhardt (2nd, 39pts) at Tiger Park, Manunda.
Another chapter in the long and storied rivalry between Edge Hill United and Leichhardt will be written at Tiger Park as the fierce rivals face off for the first spot in the October 16 grand final.
The Tigers completed an undefeated season, scored a remarkable 126 goals in 17 games as they won the league by 10 points.
That dominance earned them a home semi final, but finals are a totally different style of football.
Captain Siobhan Macken is well aware of just how different the competition becomes at this time of year, but said her side would remain focused on the goal of claiming the grand final trophy.
“Something that’s really special about this club and this team is that we’re more than a team; we’re bonded as really close friends,” she said.
“Even when we weren’t scheduled to play, we’d come down and kick a ball around. We’re so passionate about the sport, a nd we’re happy to go to training every week.
“I’m very proud of the team. We set goals at the start of the year we thought were achievable for us with the coaching team and a few new players.
“We didn’t worry about the big games, we always looked to the next week. Every game was important.”
Leichhardt captain Helen Cross has worn the Lions’ red and black uniform in plenty of finals series before, and with a number of young players in this year’s squad, her veteran experience and leadership are worth gold.
The squad is markedly different to the one which won the epic grand final in 2020, and Cross said the senior players had stood up.
“Probably only a handful, maybe half the team, so we do have a lot of new players and young ones so we have to make sure they have that fire in the belly on the day,” Cross said.
“They’ve got good attitudes, and the senior players are definitely helping out with all of that. It’s being positive and working towards the GF.
“We just have to give our all out there. We need to match (Edge Hill Utd), and be better.”
ELIMINATION FINAL
Mareeba Utd (3rd, 37pts) v JCU Strikers (4th, 24pts) at Lindsay Australia Stadium, Mareeba.
Home ground advantage could be the key factor when Mareeba United hosts JCU Strikers in front of what is expected to be a bumper crowd in the elimination final.
Mareeba Utd finished well ahead of Strikers on the table, and are yet to taste defeat in three games against JCU.
Bulls captain Nicole Ghensi said the team, the last FNQ side standing in the statewide knockout, the first Kappa Women’s Super Cup, would lift to another level at home.
“We always seem to play better at home and with our crowd following us,” Ghensi said. “We get a lot of support locally, and we’re excited to have the crowd behind us for the first semi final.
“They’re a good team, they give us a game. They’re a young side who is fast and skilful, but it’s anyone’s game.
“Hopefully we do make it all the way to the grand final, but it will depend on the day.”
The midfield of Ghensi, Jane Close, Rommany Soley and Samantha Cater is among the best in the league, and the club’s counter-attacking style often allows the quartet to quickly feed key striking duo Victoria Owokran and Jeannae Kalinau, who have combined for 26 goals this season.
“We’ve worked together for a couple of years now, so we really get how one another works, and it’s really exciting going into the finals player together,” Ghensi said of the midfield. “We play a 4-4-2, but hopefully we move upwards which we usually do, we do play counter, and then our defenders are strong, lead by centre back Katia Spena.”
JCU Strikers were clearly fourth, 13 points behind third and nine ahead of fifth-placed Innisfail United, but they will take confidence into what is a sudden death finals run given previous results no longer have any bearing.
Captain Astia Neckebroeck has long been the team’s key piece in attack, and in 2021 was JCU’s highest goalscorer with 18 goals.
“Everyone’s really excited, pretty keen. We are a bit nervous because it’s Mareeba, but we're happy with any result,” Neckebroeck said.
“The first game we were close, but through the season we dropped with our scores. If everyone works as a team, we can put in a good fight.
“It’s been a rollercoaster for us. Our first three games were Edge Hill, then we had like four weeks off so it was tough to keep it going.”
THE SCHEDULE
Qualifying final
Edge HIll United v Leichhardt at Tiger Park, from 8.30pm on Friday.
Elimination final
Mareeba Utd v JCU Strikers at Lindsay Australia Stadium, from 8.30pm on Friday.
matthew.mcinerney1@news.com.au
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Originally published as Your guide to the FNQ Premier League finals
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