Northern Inland Football: Moore Creek Mountain Goats defeat Armidale City Westside in semi-final

The perennial premiership contenders had once again finished in the top four of the Premier League first grade competition, and were slated to face Armidale City Westside in yesterday's minor semi-final.

Against any other team, the Mountain Goats might have treated it like any other final.

But facing Armidale City, who had beaten them twice throughout the season, Moore Creek wanted revenge.

"They were fired up from the start, during the warm-up," Mountain Goats co-coach, Andy Cygan, said.

"Armidale seemed a bit more laidback in their approach during the warm-up, and we just built on that."

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The match was played at Armidale's Harris Park, but the home ground provided no advantage for the hosts, who fell to a 3-0 defeat.

It was the result, Cygan said, of a "great team effort", in which Moore Creek had learned from their previous mistakes.

"We just wanted to make sure that we started well," he said.

"We always planned to keep hold of the ball, a lot of passing, and work hard on keeping the ball. We've been focusing a lot in previous weeks on keeping a clean sheet."

Prior to their 3-2 loss to Tamworth FC in round 21 (which, thanks to a bye, was Moore Creek's last game of the season), they had done exactly that and kept their last four opponents scoreless.

And, thanks to Dean Hoy's efforts in goal - who stood in for the absent Dan Snider - the Mountain Goats did so again on Saturday.

Along with Hoy, captain Mitch Harding came in for praise from Cygan, who said he was "brilliant" and "creates a lot of chances".

Daniel McCormack was also lauded for his work rate, while the co-coach made note of Hayden Davidson, who he said has "been a rock at the back".

"Everyone played really well, but I think they were the standouts," Cygan said.

Their victory ensures the Mountain Goats a place in next weekend's preliminary final against the OVA Mushies, who lost 4-3 to South Armidale United yesterday.

Moore Creek and OVA have a longstanding rivalry and tend to produce highly competitive games, and Cygan said his side were "excited" to have the opportunity to play them again.

"We'd have probably liked a grand final against them," he said.

"We've played OVA and South Armidale a few weeks back, and neither of those teams scored against us. Including yesterday, that's the top three teams we've played against now that haven't scored against us.

"The fact that it's OVA gives us a bit more passion to win."

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