Keigo Moriyasu was the star of the show as he grabbed his second hat-trick in PlayStation®4 NPL Northern NSW to lead Edgeworth to a dominant 6-0 victory over Adamstown Rosebud.
Match of the Round
Edgeworth Eagles 6 (Moriyasu (p) 21’, 32’, 52’ Holz 38’, Oppedisano 43’, Melmeth 83’) defeated Adamstown Rosebud 0 at Jack McLaughlan Oval.
Going into the match without three members of their starting backline in Ayden Brice, Dom Bizzari and Captain Josh Evans, it appeared as though it would be a tough battle for the Eagles, but some Moriyasu magic it ensured it would be Edgeworth’s night.
Adamstown controlled the opening 20 minutes of the match and could have easily been in front. Aaron Niyonkuru had the best chance for the visitors in the 17th minute, but he fired over the bar from just inside the area.
As the Eagles have done over the last two seasons, they made the Rosebud’s pay for their wasted chances. Daniel McBreen chipped the Adamstown defence, who had pushed high, allowing Adam Cawley to stream down the middle of park – and into the box – where he was tugged to ground by Daniel Yaxley.
Referee Aaron Strickland had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and handing a red card to Yaxley. The double jeopardy law unable to save Yaxley, as it was deemed by Strickland that the Rosebud defender had played the man, not the ball.
Broadmeadow Magic 3 (L.Virgili 38’, Griffiths 44’, S.Paul 65’) defeated Valentine Phoenix 2 (J.Carroll 12’, M.Paul 74’) at Magic Park.
Broadmeadow coach Ruben Zadkovich believes his side still has plenty of improvement left in them but was nonetheless pleased with the victory as Magic kept their undefeated start to the 2017 season going.
The home side came from behind to make it two wins in a row and Zadkovich said if he had to rate his side currently in comparison with their potential, last night was a ‘four out of ten.’
“The boys are competing well and scrapping for things and showing the right attitude,” Zadkovich said
The execution probably still isn’t perfect. It’s slowly improving and there is a certain resilience about the boys which is something I’m big on and I’m happy with where we are, we are ticking along nicely.”
In a surprise, it was the Phoenix that took the early lead, as Chris Brown – up against one of his former clubs – curled a pinpoint cross onto the head of Josh Carroll who headed home from point-blank range.
However, before the break, Broadmeadow found their way back into the contest. In the 38th minute, Luke Virgili curled his free kick inside Scott Carter’s near post from a very acute angle on the right.
Weston Bears 2 (N.Thompson (p) 7’, 62’) drew with Lambton Jaffas 2 (Griffiths 33’ Brown 66’) at Rockwell Automation Park.
Joel Griffiths may have scored his first goal in the PS4 NPL Northern NSW, but it wasn’t enough for the visiting Jaffas as they shared the points with Weston in an entertaining match at Rockwell Automation Park on Sunday.
As they did in round one, the Bears opened their account with a penalty. James Thompson was played down the right and darted down the right before being felled by Jaffas defender Liam O’Dell. His brother James stepped up and sent Brad Swancott the wrong way.
But, before the break, the Jaffas got themselves back level via veteran Griffiths, who headed home from point-blank range for his first goal in the competition.
Charlestown City Blues 1 (Maguire 9’) drew with Lake Macquarie Roosters 1 (Broadley 15’) at Lisle Carr Oval.
Lake Macquarie coach Anthony Richards was glowing in praise of the determination his side in the final 15 minutes as the Roosters held on to a 1-1 draw against Charlestown at Lisle Carr Oval on Sunday.
Lake Macquarie continued their impressive form in the PS4 NPL Northern NSW, with securing their second point of the campaign. Lakes were down early after a spectacular strike from Josh Maguire but recovered quickly through Justin Broadley.
“We were good at the beginning [of the match] but the last 15 minutes we hung on. I was really proud of the performance for the last 15. We dug in really deep. We had a couple of chances on the counter-attack, but I was more than impressed with the way we held firm and grabbed a point,” Richards said.
“A draw was probably a fair result, both sides had chances to go further and get a win but on the balance, it was a good result.”
The Roosters manned the ramparts in the final twenty minutes as the Blues searched for the match winner, but they were unable to find one as the Roosters made it two draws from two matches.
Maguire got the Blues off to a flier with an opportunistic strike in the 9th minute. The former New Zealand Knight unleashed a powerful left-foot strike from outside the box which swerved into the top left corner.
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