One of the great New England sporting achievements - OVA's 49-game unbeaten run in the Premier League - has been built on a distortion, Moore Creek co-coach Dean Hoy has said.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Ahead of the rivals' preliminary final clash at Johnson Field on Saturday, September 16, Hoy said his former club were not unbeaten for 49 consecutive matches because they had lost games outside of the Premier League during that period including in the Australia Cup.
The reigning premiers were undefeated in the Premier League from round one of 2020 until South Armidale downed them 1-0 in round three this year.
Read more:
But Hoy said "49 games unbeaten is unbeaten - not ... 'Oh, we lost here, but we won't count that. We lost here, but we won't count that'. You can't do that."
"So, you can't claim you're undefeated if you've been defeated," he said.
Hoy said there was "plenty of talk" about an unbeaten run coming from Mushies, without it being qualified.
He claimed that Mushies coach Tim Coates talked up the accomplishment because he "tries to make a dynasty and glorify what he's done".
The Goats mentor directed a less polite remark at Coates, but the ACM chose not to print it.
Adding to the spicy nature of Saturday's clash, Hoy congratulated South Armidale for booking their spot in the grand final on September 23 by edging OVA 4-3 in extra time in the major semi-final at Johnson Field on Saturday, September 9.
He said Moore Creek - who beat Armidale City Westside 3-0 in the minor semi-final - had "a really good relationship" with South Armidale, adding: "We're literally all in a group chat together."
The goodwill between the two clubs largely stems from Souths inviting Moore Creek to use their showers after the Goats had played East Armidale in Armidale this season.
"When we got there, they [Souths] had a carton of beer for us," Hoy said, adding: "We went back and had beers at their pub with them. Hillvue were there as well."
Dean is entitled to his opinion.
- Tim Coates
Hoy said the act of generosity "built the relationship to where it just becomes a mutual respect".
"Nah, not really," he replied when asked if Moore Creek had a similar connection with OVA.
Coates said he always qualified OVA's achievement as being Premier League-related.
"Dean is entitled to his opinion," he added.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark northerndailyleader.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News