PS4 NPL NNSW Round 17 Review

Broadmeadow Magic recorded their seventh victory in succession with a dominant 3-1 victory over Lambton in the ‘Match of the Round’.

Broadmeadow Magic 3 (Virgili 33’, Bradbury 59’, 74’), Lambton Jaffas 1 (Hay 85’) at Magic Park.

The victory keeps Magic in fifth – just a point outside the top four.

After an arm-wrestle over the opening half-hour Magic got their noses in front and didn’t look back when James Virgili opened the scoring. Mitch Oxborrow launched a long ball from deep inside his own half which the Magic flyer latched onto.

Lambton skipper Michael Sessions misjudged the swirling long ball as he ran backwards and Virgili sped through and finished superbly to make it 1-0 in the 33rd minute.

James Virgili turned from scorer to provider in the 59th minute when he teed up Kale Bradbury. Virgili darted along the by-line and squared for Bradbury who smashed home his sixth goal of the season to make it 2-0.

Oxborrow’s masterclass continued when he found Dino Fajkovic with a long pass in the 74th minute.

Fajkovic fired a shot from the right side of the box which was well saved by Swancott, but Kale Bradbury was on hand at the back post to control the ball as it rolled towards the by-line, step away from Ridge Marpu, and thump home his second goal of the match.

Jaffas keeper Brad Swancott received a yellow card in the aftermath of the goal after questioning the decision of referee Stephen Laurie.

Replays showed the ball appeared the cross the by-line as Bradbury attempted to take control of the ball. But, it took nothing away from a clinical Broadmeadow performance.

Ben Hay scored a late consolation for Lambton in the 85th minute after Pat Brown found space down the right edge, and Magic couldn’t clear the danger.

But, it did little to take the gloss of Broadmeadow’s day though as they retained the Elders Charity Shield.

 

Maitland Magpies 3 (Dutton-Black 18’, 82’ Clarke 41’), Weston Bears 2 (Barner 16’, Buswell 67’) at Rockwell Automation Park. 

‘We were lucky to get away it.’

Those were the thoughts of Maitland coach Phil Dando after the Magpies left it late to claim a 3-2 victory over last-placed Weston on Saturday.

In the third Coalfields Derby of the season, Maitland scraped through with a one-goal win for the third time.

And while it wasn’t the Magpies’ best performance, three points were all they needed as they kept within touching distance of the top four.

Early on, it seemed an upset was brewing when Weston opened the scoring after just 16 minutes.

Sam Ford chipped a pass over the top of the Magpies backline and keeper Matt Trott misjudged the bouncing ball. Barner was able to control the ball, round Trott, and slot the ball into an open net for just his second goal of the season.

However, Weston’s lead was short lived. Just two minutes later Josh Dutton-Black curled in a corner which somehow snuck inside Kane Runge’s near post and the Magpies were back level.

 

Hamilton Olympic 2 (Goodchild (p) 73’, Cooper 80’) defeat Charlestown City Blues 1 (Ferguson 17’) 

Hamilton are quickly making a name for themselves as the PlayStation®4 NPL Northern NSW’s comeback kings, as for the third week in a row Olympic fought back from a deficit in the second half.

Goals from Charlestown-bound forward Kane Goodchild and speedster Rhys Cooper in the final 20 minutes ensured the three points would head home with the men from Hamilton. 

It was the Blues though who shot out of the blocks. Rene Ferguson opened the scoring for Charlestown in the 16th minute with a contender for ‘Goal of the Season’.

After the ball came off pin-balled off heads following a Blues goal-kick, it fell to Ferguson who from about 35 metres out launched a looping long-range strike which dipped over Tyler Warren in the Olympic goal to make it 1-0.

It was a stunning way to get the scoring started for the home side who took their slim advantage into the sheds at half-time.

 

Edgeworth Eagles 4 (Brice 6’, Sanders 14’, McBreen 53’, Taylor 75’) defeated Newcastle Jets Youth 1 (Frendo 15’) at Jack McLaughlan Oval.

Edgeworth returned to the top of the table with a comprehensive 4-1 victory over the Newcastle Jets Youth.

It didn’t take the Eagles long to open the scoring – just six minutes – after Bren Hammel whipped in a corner for Ayden Brice to powerfully head into the back of the net.

Edgeworth made it 2-0 just eight minutes later when Kieran Sanders played a wonderful one-two with Will Bower.

The Englishman sprinted down the left side of the box and finished with precision, curling his right foot shot home to double the advantage.

But, the Jets Youth were quick to reply after Edgeworth failed to deal with a corner and Jackson Frendo struck his shot sweetly from the edge of the box which nestled in the bottom right corner. After a frantic opening 15 minutes, the Eagles led 2-1.

 

Lake Macquarie Roosters 3 (Walker 11’, Sparre 27’ defeated Adamstown Rosebud 1 (Niyonkuru 87’) at Macquarie Field. 

There were no second-half heroics for Adamstown this weekend after they conceded three first-half goals at Macquarie Field on Sunday.

The Rosebud’s left themselves with too much work to do in the second stanza as the Roosters kept their faint finals hopes flickering with a superb first half performance.

Sam Walker ensured he kept pace with Jalon Brown at the top of the Golden Boot count when he pinched the ball just inside the Rosebuds half after Alex Read and Owen Littlewood got in each other’s way.

Walker sprinted down field and went one-on-one with Rosebuds keeper Riley Hill before calmly slotting across Hill to make it 1-0.

Tom Sparre scored his first goal of the season for the Roosters in the 27th minute when Adamstown couldn’t clear a Lake Macquarie corner. The ball sat up for Sparre on the edge of the box and he hit it sweetly, low and hard into the bottom left corner.

Trent Partridge made it an ever better first 45 minutes for Lakes when he curled a shot inside the top right corner following some sparkling build-up play from the Roosters.

Partridge’s post-goal celebration was one of the more interesting of the season, with Lakes clearly enjoying their start to the match.

 

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