The state competition, which kicked off with more than 850 teams entered, all came down to the quarter finals in Sydney between each region’s representatives.

For the Hunter, Biddabah proved to be the best of the region’s talents, playing through seven rounds of elimination matches to enter the finals.

“It takes a lot of work to get where we got, there were a lot of close games,” team head coach Keith Harris said of the squad’s deep run.

“There are a lot of representative players in the team and they’ve been together for a while, but you could see the confidence growing for the team as they beat some of the better squads in the state.”

Their campaign began with a close 2-2 match against Wallsend South that came down to a win on penalties, 5-4.

The team kicked on from there, recording a 15-0 victory over West Wallsend and a walk-over against Cessnock East.

Another tight match against Hamilton South ended 4-3 in favour of the Biddabah squad, and a 4-1 win over Eleebana put them into the Hunter region qualifying final.

It was penalties that decided the seventh match for Biddabah, this time a more notable 1(5)-1(1) win in the extra time shoot-out.

Then it was on to Sydney, and a chance at the top spot in the state.

“It was really awesome. To get to the elimination finals was a really great thing … they are learning the sport and getting this chance to show what they can do on a big stage is great,” Harris said.

Sydney North’s Wyong Public School were Biddabah’s quarter-final opponents, and the Hunter team advanced to the final four off the back of a strong 2-0 win.

Their next opponent proved too much, with North Coast’s representatives Byron Bay booking their spot in the title fight with a 2-0 win.

Sydney South West’s King Park were the eventual winners of the NSW PSSA tournament, locking Byron Bay out in a 3-0 victory.

“I would be lying if I said that the team weren’t a little disappointed that we came that far just to fall a little bit short, but the team played fantastically and to get where we got in the end was a massive effort,” Harris said.

Consolation for the team came in the third place playoff, when their 2-1 victory secured them the ‘bronze finish’.

The best of the goalscorers for Biddabah in their run was Cooper Fitchett, who netted 10 times, and Egan Ford, Blake Robinson and Blake Knight were equal second with 5 goals each.