Friday, March 15, 2013
By BEN HARRIS
There will be many players having a sleepless night tonight with thoughts of finals glory running through their minds.
Tomorrow is finals day at the 2013 X-Blades National Touch League at the BCU International Stadium in Coffs Harbour.
All divisions will be decided with the first lot of grand finals getting underway at 8am.
The first two grand finals to be decided will be the women’s 40s and women’s 27s.
In both matches, the Sydney Scorpions and the Hunter Western Hornets go head-to-head.
The Scorpions are favourites to win the divisions after going through the two competitions undefeated.
The mixed open have entered the semi-finals stage with the two group winners, Sydney Rebels and South Queensland Sharks on a collision course for the final.
The Rebels defeated Victoria 4-2 in their quarter-final and the Sharks got up 6-4 over the Sunshine Coast.
In the other quarter-final matches, the Western Tigers, who won their final pool game against the Sydney Mets to make the final eight, defeated ACT Pirates 7-4 and Brisbane City Cobras defeated Tasmania 5-3.
The Rebels will play the Tigers and the Sharks meet their Queensland counterparts the Cobras.
In the senior mixed division, the Scorpions were undefeated during the preliminary rounds and will play the Rebels in the first semi-final. Victoria and the Southern Suns play in the other semi after finishing second and third respectively.
Southern Suns finished first in the men’s T League and will play the fourth-placed side Central Queensland Bulls in the first semi-final. The winner of that match will play either the Cobras or the Hornets in the decider.
The women’s T League will play their semi-finals at 8am with the Hornets and Sunshine Coast Pineapples meeting each other, and ACT Pirates taking on the Scorpions.
All four teams had good wins in their quarter-finals matches.
The men’s 30s will be hotly contested with the Pineapples, Defence Warriors, Scorpions and Pirates all good chances at winning the title.
The division has been one of the tightest at this year’s NTLs with the Cobras unlucky to miss out on the semi-finals.
South Australia Heat and the North Queensland Tropical Cyclones are only one win away from joining the Pirates in the final of the women’s 35s.
The Pirates qualified for the final by beating the Cyclones 6-0 in the major semi-final while the Heat made it to the preliminary final after winning the minor semi-final 3-2 against the Swans.
In the men’s 40s, the Warriors, Hornets, Sharks and Cobras all advanced to the semi-finals. All four finished within two points of each other.
The Scorpions will keep a close eye on the Sharks and Hornets preliminary final as they will play the winner in the final of the men’s 45s.
The Sydney club went through the preliminary rounds undefeated and were 3-1 winners over the Sharks in the major semi-final.
Four teams have the opportunity to win the men’s 50s title. Mets, Tropical Cyclones, Pirates and Suns feature in the semi-finals tomorrow, while the Pineapples are through to the men’s 55s final and will play either the Northern Eagles or the Scorpions.
You can keep up-to-date with all of the latest news, results and information from the 2013 X-Blades National Touch League in the following ways:
Websites
Social Media
Facebook – www.facebook.com/touchfootballaustralia
Twitter – www.twitter.com/touchfootyaus (be sure to use the hashtag #NTL2013)
Instagram – search for ‘Touch Football Australia’
YouTube - www.youtube.com/touchfootballaus
Touch Football Australia will be streaming matches live on their YouTube page.
- Links:
Finals at NTLs
