Round 11: Sydney, Singapore Claim Last 2 Finals Spots

Sydney and Singapore have claimed the last two spots in the ARTTSL Finals series after winning must-win final matches in Round 11.

The four sides still facing uncertainty were forced to wait intil the end of the round though. First up was confirmed wooden spooners Illawarra at home to Brisbane. Keen to avoid the bottom-three relegation zone, Brisbane thrashed Illawarra who tried bravely to put up a fight. Illawarra's final point summed up their season by leaving the last ball to go through, having thought it was going out, to lose by a dismal 11-2. The win lifted Brisbane to 8th and out of the relegation zone.

Next up Newcastle wanted a big win over Melbourne in Newcastle to have some hope of catching Gold Coast-Tweed for the Minor Premiership, and started well, racing to a 9-1 lead, only to lose focus and let Melbourne pull it back to finish going down 11-6.

Ultimately Newcastle's score was irrelevant as Gold Coast-Tweed thrashed Perth 11-6. The result clinched the Minor Premiership for Gold Coast-Tweed, and left Perth 10th and hence the bottom-three relegation zone with Melbourne and Illawarra. As to whether any sides are relegated depends on whether there is a second division as ARTTSL still awaits an further announcements from the mysterious Hyperball League.

South New Zealand and Sunshine Coast were both assured of making the finals, but the match in Christchurch was still crucial as the winner would secure 3rd spot and hence home finals in the first two weeks of the finals, contingent on winning each week. South New Zealand took a comforatble 7-3 lead and held it to the end to win 11-6. The result left Sushine Coast 6th on the ladder and hence now needing to win four away finals to win the Premiership, the first ironically being against South New Zealand again in week 1.

With Singapore, Canberra, North New Zealand and Sydney all on 10 points in equal 5th, both became sudden death with only the winners moving into the top 6 on 12 points.

Canberra appeared to have lost their mojo in the trip to Singapore, never troubling them and going down 11-2. The loss ended a disastrous end to the season which saw Canberra lose their last four games after looking in contention for the Minor Premiership earlier.

Sydney travelled to Auckland to challenge North New Zealand for the final spot. Despite being gee'd up their mascot the Big Pippie and a big home crowd, Auckland were sloppy and slipped to 7-3 early and finally went down weakly 11-7. The win moved Sydney up to 4th on for and against and secured a home final in week 1 against Singapore.

Round 11 Results:
Brisbane 11 d Illawarra 1 (at Wollongong)
South New Zealand 11 d Sunshine Coast 6 (at Christchurch)
Newcastle 11 d Melbourne 6 (at Newcastle)
Gold Coast-Tweed 11 d Perth 6 (at Perth)
Singapore 11 d Canberra 2 (at Singapore)
Sydney 11 d North New Zealand 7 (at Auckland)

Preliminary Finals:
Week off: Gold Coast-Tweed, Newcastle
P1: South New Zealand vs Sunshine Coast (at Christchurch)
P2: Sydney vs Singapore (at Sydney)