Match of the Round
Valentine FC v New Lambton FC
Hunter Sports Centre, Saturday 5pm
Adam Hughes knows that time is running out and that this weekend’s match is crucial for Valentine FC’s finals hopes as he and his men prepare to host New Lambton FC at Hunter Sports Centre in Glendale.
Sitting eighth on the table, Valentine are seven points outside the top five with just seven rounds remaining.
Playing finals football is Hughes’ goal for 2023, making every game extremely important from here on in if Valentine are to achieve that.
“We’ll go into this game continuing to play the style of football we’ve been trying to,” Hughes said.
“It’s a must-win game for us and we know that.
“There’s a good chance we can reach the finals if we can beat the teams around us. We’ve proven, football-wise, throughout the year that we are more than capable of beating anyone and playing well.
“We’ve had close encounters the past couple of games where we’ve been unable to put the ball in the back of the net, but I feel that it’s there, it’s coming.
“We just need to show a little bit more intensity higher up the pitch than we have in the last few weeks.”
Valentine’s Nicholas Martinelli will be one to watch this weekend in the Match of The Round. He enters Saturday’s contest in impressive goal-scoring form after netting in a 2-1 defeat against Maitland FC last weekend. That goal was his seventh of the season.
“We need a few more goals from other positions as well though, to start chipping in if we’re going to have a finals push towards the end of the season,” Hughes said.
Scott Mcginley netted one of Valentine’s goals that day but he will not feature this weekend after he suffered a season-ending knee injury last month, which Hughes described as a major blow for his side.
The Valentine coach saw their last encounter against New Lambton as a physical one and said that he expected much of the same when they meet again on Saturday.
Valentine’s Match of the Round opponents New Lambton have lost their past five games and cannot finish high enough to play finals football in their first season in the NPL Men’s competition.
Coach Tom Davies wants to see a much-improved effort in the Eagles’ last seven games, starting this Saturday against Valentine.
“We’ve had some good performances this year where we haven’t gotten anything out of games,” Davies said.
“We’ve been pretty poor the past three or four games though, which we’ve spoken about.
“Adamstown was one of our poorer performances. We didn’t turn up at all last weekend, which is disappointing considering it was old boys day.
“But we will regroup and be positive, and I want this game against Valentine to correct the past few weeks.
“I want us to have a positive mentality for our last seven games.”
Adamstown Rosebud FC v Charlestown Azzurri FC
Adamstown Oval, Saturday 2:30pm
Adamstown Rosebud FC and Charlestown Azzurri FC will be looking to lean on their respective performances when they meet at Adamstown Oval this Saturday.
This match offers the Rosebuds the chance to win back-to-back matches for the first time this year, while for the Azzurri it is all about remaining on top of the table.
James Pascoe’s men are just one win clear of Weston Workers FC, who spent almost 24 hours in first place last weekend before Azzurri beat Lake Macquarie City 4-0 on Sunday to reclaim their lead.
“It’s not a position that we want to give up and we’ll be fighting hard to keep it until the end of the season,” Pascoe said.
Azzurri’s match against Adamstown this weekend is their third in a run of four games against teams ranked in the bottom five on the ladder.
Charlestown have gotten the job done against those sides all season, which Pascoe credited to a strong dressing room presence.
“When you’ve got a couple of leaders like we’ve got in Nigel Boogaard and Taylor Regan, and even people like Rene Ferguson and Nathan Archbold who have been around for a long time, it’s a pretty easy job for me,” Pascoe said.
“At the end of the day, you tend to find across most seasons that the top three or four teams usually share results. They’ll get maybe a win each against each other. It comes down to what you do against these other teams that often makes the difference, and we’ve been immaculate to this point against the teams we’re expected to beat.
“Fingers crossed it continues.”
Archbold, Regan and Boogaard have led a solid defensive unit in 2023 that have conceded the fewest number of goals all season, so Adamstown will need to be at its brilliant best on home soil this Saturday.
Newcastle Olympic FC v Cooks Hill United FC
Darling Street Oval, Saturday 3pm
Both sides will be playing to keep their finals hopes alive at Darling Street Oval on Saturday when Newcastle Olympic FC host Cooks Hill United FC.
Olympic have fallen to seventh after picking up just five points out of a possible 15 from their past five games.
They went down 3-0 at home against Weston Workers FC last weekend as they struggled to test the opposition goalkeeper.
The Olympic men looked set to turn their fortunes around on Tuesday night at home in an Australia Cup preliminary round match against Edgeworth FC.
But it was Edgeworth who advanced after equalising in the 82nd minute and finding a second goal late in the first half of extra time before holding on to win 2-1.
Newcastle Olympic now turn their attention to this Saturday’s clash, but they will not have coach Joel Griffiths on the sideline.
Griffiths was handed a five-match suspension this week after he was ruled to have been in contravention of the Football Australia Code of Conduct during a match earlier this month, a charge that Olympic admitted this week.
Cooks Hill have only won one of their past six matches as they have fallen 12 points outside the top five with a game in hand.
Every game is crucial for Cooks Hill going forward and three points at Darling Street Oval this weekend would be ideal in their quest to challenge for finals football.
Lambton Jaffas FC v Broadmeadow Magic FC
Arthur Edden Oval, Sunday 2:30pm
Lambton Jaffas FC will host Broadmeadow Magic FC at Arthur Edden Oval this weekend and the hosts are preparing for what coach David Tanchevski labelled as their toughest game of the year.
Magic have only lost three matches all season and one of those was against the Jaffas back in March when Lambton’s Josh Piddington scored against his old club on the stroke of half-time to cancel out a 42nd-minute Bailey Wells goal, and then the Jaffas struck twice in the final 10 minutes while playing with 10 men to win 3-1.
John Bennis’ Magic have only lost once in 10 NPL games since then and they are currently enjoying a six-game unbeaten run, five of which they have won, which has propelled them to third.
They are also coming off a 3-0 Australia Cup victory against Maitland last night that saw them qualify for the tournament’s Round of 32.
Lambton’s season has been quite the opposite. The Jaffas went on a five-game winning streak earlier in the year but have only won two of their past eight since.
Tanchevski is confident that his men are ready to start climbing the ladder as the finals series approaches, but said they will need to start taking advantage of leads and finishing games off.
“We’ve had two tough games recently against Edgeworth where we’ve conceded in injury time in the last minute of both games,” Tanchevski said.
“I want us to start closing games out when we get in those positions.
“Magic are flying high at the moment. They’re in great form and had a big win in the cup last night, so for us, we’ve pencilled this in as the toughest game on the calendar this year.
“It will be a very tough game and hopefully we can mix it with them.”
The Jaffas will receive a major boost this weekend, with the news of signing AFC Champions League winner Nikolai Topor-Stanely.
Topor-Stanely joins the side from Western United FC, after announcing his retirement from professional football earlier this year.
Weston Workers FC v Maitland FC
Rockwell Automation Park, Sunday 2:30pm
The Coalfields derby, the El Clásicoal, call it what you want but one thing is guaranteed; when Weston Workers FC and Maitland FC line up opposite one another, it brings out the best of both sides.
That can be expected once again this Sunday when the Bears host the Magpies at Rockwell Automation Park.
This contest is an intriguing one as Weston are second on the table and are in striking distance of top spot, while the Magpies currently occupy fourth.
The Bears are also unbeaten in their past six games following their dominant 3-0 win against Newcastle Olympic on Saturday.
Weston are the side with the fewest defeats this season and they promise to give Maitland one of the toughest games the Magpies have played in all season this weekend.
Maitland are the most in-form team of the competition and it was their last meeting against Weston that was the catalyst for turning their season around.
A Yuta Konagaya strike from the penalty spot in the 60th minute was the difference when the Bears beat Maitland 1-0 back in Round 5. The loss was the Magpies’ third in four games to start the 2023 season and it left coach Mick Bolch scratching his head.
That was a major turning point for Maitland, as they have lost just one in 11 matches since then and they currently occupy the league’s largest active winning streak of six games.
The Magpies did lose 3-0 on Wednesday night against Broadmeadow Magic in the Australia Cup to fall at the final hurdle before the Round of 32, but that only adds to their hunger and motivation this Sunday.
Edgeworth FC v Lake Macquarie City FC
Jack McLaughlan Oval, Sunday 3:30pm
The final game of the round will be played at Jack McLaughlan Oval on Sunday when Edgeworth FC host Lake Macquarie City FC.
The Eagles are flying high following their 2-1 extra time Australia Cup victory against Newcastle Olympic at Darling Street Oval on Tuesday night to qualify for the Round of 32.
But they have had to quickly shift their focus back to getting their NPL Men’s season back on track.
Edgeworth have been winless in their past five games and have picked up three of a possible 15 points to drop down to fifth on the ladder, trailing Charlestown Azzurri FC at the top by nine points.
Three mid-week 120-minute Australia Cup matches have taken a toll on the team, but the Eagles have now put that behind them and are focused on achieving their potential in the NPL competition.
“We want to go on a run now. That’s our aim,” Edgeworth Eagles FC coach Peter McGuiness said.
“We’ve spoken about the fact that we can really knuckle down and make sure we get points every weekend. We really want to cement ourselves over the last seven rounds to play finals footy.
“We are definitely a good enough team to be in the finals, but it’s not going to be given to you, you’ve got to go and earn it.
“If we can get into that top five, it’s anyone’s game then.”
Edgeworth’s clash with Lake Macquarie this weekend kicks off a run of three consecutive matches against bottom five sides for the Eagles.
McGuiness believes that while it presents a good opportunity for his men, there are no easy games in this competition and he will be expecting a tough encounter from a Roosters side that won their first game of the year earlier this month.
The Eagles beat Lake Macquarie 5-1 in a rescheduled Round 5 match last month and the Roosters are determined to flip that result on Sunday.