Match of the Round
Weston Workers FC 1-1 Charlestown Azzurri FC
This week’s Match of The Round finished all square at Rockwell Automation Park on Sunday as Weston and Charlestown contested a 1-1 draw.
Both teams scored their goal in the first half and neither was able to find a winner in the second.
The visitors opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Regan Lundy found the bottom right corner with a classy finish.
Weston were punished after they failed to clear a Miguel Angel Fernandez Herrera cross from the right as Jethro Elkington found himself in possession and squared the ball to an unmarked Lundy on the edge of the 18-yard box who guided the ball just inside the right upright.
The Bears hit back in the 28th minute when they won a free kick out wide on the right and Yuta Konagaya curled it into the box with his left foot, finding Mitchell Dobson at the back stick who headed the ball over the line.
The two sides were forced to share the points despite both creating chances throughout the remainder of the match.
Charlestown Azzurri coach James Pascoe thought that his side played well in tricky conditions. He was pleased with the way that his new-look backline performed but was disappointed with the way his side left Dobson unmarked at the back stick for Weston’s goal.
“It was one of those days. It was tough for everyone this weekend with the conditions, with the wind. Fields are getting bumpier too now,” Pascoe said.
“It was a decent competitive game without being a high-quality game, that’s for sure.
“Taylor Regan marshalled a rejigged backline well. We had the two boys (Nigel Boogaard and Callum Bower) out with red cards and, essentially, we made three changes back there. Those two were forced, and because we lost Nigel’s leadership, we brought Rene Ferguson back from up front to slot in next to Taylor. They did well.
“I wasn’t happy with the goal at all. It was avoidable and we didn’t get the numbers right at all.
“But overall, against a pretty decent Weston side who were at full strength, I thought we did a really good job.”
Weston Bears coach Kew Jaliens thought that his players were capable of more than what they showed throughout the 90 minutes.
“We played alright but we could have played better,” Jaliens said.
“We should have taken more advantage of the system we played with against their system.
“Especially in the first half, we moved the ball too slow and stayed on the same side too long. They were able to close the gaps in the midfield. We had an overload in the midfield and we were just too slow in getting the ball to the free man.
“It was a pretty even game to be honest and both teams had their chances. Credit to Azzurri.”
Jaliens thought the goal that the Bears conceded was simply a lapse in concentration that was certainly avoidable.
Charlestown remain first but are now only two points clear of second-placed side Maitland after the Magpies won at home against Lake Macquarie City on Sunday.
Azzurri returns home to Lisle Carr Oval this Saturday where they will host Newcastle Olympic.
Dropping two points sees Weston slide down the ladder to fifth. They remain six points back from Azzurri with four matches left to play and will be hoping make up some ground this Saturday when they host Adamstown at Rockwell Automation Park.
Lambton Jaffas FC 3-2 Adamstown Rosebud FC
Josh Piddington celebrated a major milestone in style on Saturday in Lambton Jaffas’ 3-2 win against Adamstown Rosebud on home soil at Arthur Edden Oval.
Piddington lined up for his 400th first grade game and the centre back set up his side’s first goal, scored their second, and then later helped them hold out the visitors in the final 20 minutes to secure the three points.
The Jaffas threatened on numerous occasions early in the game and finally opened the scoring in the 42nd minute. Reece Papas found Piddington at the back stick with a corner from the left, and the veteran squared it back inside to Dylan Newbold for a tap in.
Lambton took the one-goal advantage into the break before Piddington put them ahead 2-0 in the 50th minute. Piddington picked out the top left corner with a curling strike from just behind the corner of the 18-yard box down the left edge.
Adamstown hit back in the 65th minute when Zach Griffin scored less than two minutes after entering the field. He ran onto a pin-point Dino Fajkovic through ball and calmly picked out the bottom right corner past an approaching Ben Kennedy.
The Jaffas restored their two-goal lead three minutes later when Ben Hay played a classy one-two with Bradbery and charged into the 18-yard box before slotting his one-on-one strike past Adamstown keeper Nick Hartnett.
But Adamstown refused to go down without a fight when another super sub found the net in the 70th minute as Austin Howard capitalised on a Lambton defensive error and volleyed the ball into the net.
The Jaffas held onto the 3-2 lead when the final whistle sounded to secure the three points.
The Jaffas men are now unbeaten in their past six games and will attempt to make it seven this Saturday evening when they travel to Glendale’s Hunter Sports Centre to challenge Valentine.
Adamstown are still sitting in 10th following the loss. Next up for them is an away trip to Rockwell Automation Park to take on Weston on Saturday afternoon.
Cooks Hill United FC 2-1 Edgeworth FC
Cooks Hill United are certainly starting to turn heads as their second-half-of-the-season surge continued on Saturday after defeating competition heavyweights Edgeworth 2-1 at Fearnley Dawes Athletics Field.
The win was Cooks Hill’s third on the trot and their fourth in their past six games as the young side continues to build towards something big under coach Chris Zoricich.
The score was locked at 0-0 at half-time with neither side finding the back of the net in the opening 45 minutes.
The hosts had a huge chance when they were awarded a penalty for a handball in the box in the 32nd minute, but Liam Spurway was denied by Eagles goalkeeper Ben Conway.
It was the visitors that struck first when Edgeworth’s Nicholas Curran got onto a classy Sascha Montefiore low cross from the right edge to tap the ball in at the back stick in the 59th minute.
Cooks Hill equalised in the 71st when Edgeworth failed to clear a Daniel Yaxley cross and Spurway reacted quickest to get onto the loose ball and toe it past Conway.
The winning goal was one of the best of the weekend as Joel Clissold fired in a volley from approximately 25 metres out. The midfielder picked up the ball in his own half and charged over halfway before playing a one-two with Carter Smith. When he received the bouncing ball, he noticed Conway off his line, and he lobbed him to make the score 2-1.
The victory allowed Cooks Hill to secure their sixth win of the season and climb the table into eighth.
Zoricich was delighted with the result and how his side went about earning it, and is hoping winning starts to become a habit for Cooks Hill.
“It was another good performance from the boys,” Zoricich said.
“It was very windy of course and that made things really difficult for both teams. The wind was pretty much blowing straight down the field and we were against it in the first half.
“I thought that we did really well to keep the score to 0-0 at half-time, although we could have gone ahead because we missed a penalty.
“I think that first half really won us the game because I thought it was a two or three goal wind. To keep a good team like that scoreless was the basis of us winning the game.
“I’m hoping the mindset is changing that a win is not unusual, and hopefully it becomes a habit for us.”
Cooks Hill can make it four wins in a row this Saturday when they host New Lambton at the Fearnley Dawes Athletics Field.
The Eagles dropped out of the top five following their loss falling to sixth on the table. They face another tough road trip this weekend when they meet Maitland at Cooks Square Park on Saturday in the Match of the Round.
New Lambton FC 1-4 Broadmeadow Magic FC
Broadmeadow Magic weathered the windy conditions well at Alder Park on Saturday as they scored a 4-1 win away from home against New Lambton.
The visitors scored two goals either side of the break, while New Lambton’s goal came before half-time to make the score 2-1 at the change of ends.
Broadmeadow Magic coach John Bennis was thrilled that his side got the job done in tough conditions but thought they got away with a few defensive lapses.
“It was tough conditions, and every team that played (on Saturday) were under those same conditions. It made it difficult to play a style of game that would be attractive to watch,” Bennis said.
“I think we handled it okay though. Overall, I thought we played well. There’s obviously bits and pieces that we’d like to tidy up, but it wasn’t a bad performance.
“New Lambton had a couple of chances they didn’t take that we were a bit sloppy on. We’ve definitely defended better in other games.”
Magic opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a swift play straight up the middle that led to Riley Smith running onto a Bailey Wells pass and charging into the box before smashing the ball across Alex Bozinovski into the bottom left corner.
Wells scored next from a brilliant short corner routine that he initiated from the left in the 16th minute. He wrapped around Sam Donnellan and got the ball back before unleashing a curling a strike from the corner of the 18-yard box over everyone and into the side-netting just inside the right post.
The score became 2-1 in the 25th minute when New Lambton’s Sam Maxwell reacted quickest and volleyed home a loose ball after Magic goalkeeper Cesar Serpa had denied a headed Thomas Siderovski shot from a corner.
New Lambton went into half-time not only a goal down but also a man down after Maxwell received a second yellow card in the 45th minute for dissent, and they were made to pay in the second stanza.
Magic thought they had scored a third goal after play restarted when Jayden Stewardson guided the ball into the bottom right corner following a free kick but the offside flag was raised.
There was no denying the visitors five minutes later as Smith volleyed home his second from the edge of the six-yard box after New Lambton failed to clear a bouncing ball with a couple of air-swings.
Keanu Moore scored Broadmeadow’s fourth and final goal from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after he was brought down in the box. Bozinovski went the right way but Moore’s shot was too powerful.
That goal sealed a victory that saw Magic re-enter the top five as they finished the weekend in fourth place after overtaking Edgeworth and Weston. Broadmeadow play away again this Saturday when they travel to Macquarie Field to challenge Lake Macquarie City.
New Lambton remains 11th on the table following their loss and are also away on Saturday when they meet Cooks Hill United at the Fearnley Dawes Athletics Field.
Newcastle Olympic FC 2-1 Valentine FC
Newcastle Olympic snapped a four-game losing streak on Saturday when they earned a hard-fought 2-1 win against Valentine in front of a home crowd at Darling Street Oval.
It was a crucial victory that saw Olympic finish the weekend five points outside the top five with just four rounds remaining.
Archie Finn opened the scoring for the hosts in the ninth minute when he headed home a sensational cross that was sent into the box from Olympic’s right back Jye Rodway.
Finn then turned provider for the home side’s second goal on the stroke of half-time. He got in behind the Valentine defence down the right edge and cut the ball back from the goal line into the box to Lachlan Griffiths, who made no mistake with his first-time strike.
Olympic led 2-0 at the break and it looked set to remain that way until Valentine’s Tom Duggan ran onto a Carl Thornton cross and got around his defender with a classy touch before volleying the ball into the back of the net.
The hosts held Valentine out to earn all three points with a 2-1 victory and keep their finals hopes alive.
Olympic remains seventh on the table but are now just five points behind fifth-placed side, Weston.
Next up for Valentine is their final home game of the season at Glendale’s Hunter Sports Centre when they host Lambton Jaffas on Saturday evening.
Maitland FC 9-0 Lake Macquarie City FC
Braedyn Crowley marked his 100th NPL first grade game with a bang after his side defeated Lake Macquarie 9-0.
It was a standout performance at Cooks Square Park for Crowley as the competition’s leading goal-scorer scored three and set up four more during Maitland’s 9-0 win against Lake Macquarie City.
In his milestone game, he also scored a milestone goal, with the third of his hat-trick being his 100th in as many games as he improved on a phenomenal strike rate. The 26-year-old has scored 83 of those goals for Maitland in just 61 appearances.
Sunday’s victory was the Magpies’ ninth in a row and it saw them reclaim second spot after they’d dropped to third a day earlier following Lambton’s win against Adamstown.
Maitland were clinical from start to finish as they closed the gap between themselves and top-ranked side Charlestown to two points after Azzurri drew 1-all against Weston in the Match of the Round on Sunday.
For the third week in a row, it was Crowley who opened the scoring for Maitland from a Jimmy Thompson assist as the duo continue to develop their lethal partnership up top for the Magpies. Crowley volleyed home from close range in the 16th minute as he ran onto a lofted Thompson pass in behind.
The Magpies striker then set up two Flynn Goodman goals, the first in the 27th minute when he whipped in a corner from the left that his teammate headed home, and then the second in the 31st when he charged onto a Rhys Cooper pass inside the box down the right edge and squared it to Goodman for a tap in as the score became 3-0.
Maitland’s fourth came via another Crowley corner from the left in the 37th minute when Sean Pratt got to the ball first and his headed shot was helped into the net by Will Mcfarlane.
A five-star half was capped off by another Maitland goal in the 41st minute when Pratt chested home a rebounded ball from a few metres out after a cheeky Rhys Cooper chipped shot was touched onto the crossbar by Lake Macquarie City goalkeeper Isaac Nyman, who was left stranded when the ball bounced back out to Pratt.
Five became six just eight minutes into the second stanza when another Crowley corner from the left was headed home by Adam Blunden after he was left unmarked almost on the goal line.
Crowley netted two goals in three minutes to make the score 8-0 in the 65th, and then an own goal made it 9-0 in the 70th as Goodman was cruelly denied his hat-trick following a classy run after he brought the ball down just inside the attacking third from a long pass from a free kick deep in Maitland’s half before turning a defender and then getting past him and charging into the six-yard box. His shot deflected off a Lake Macquarie defender and trickled into the goal, which rounded out the scoring as neither side found the back of the net in the final 20 minutes.
Maitland have now turned their attention to a 10th win in a row when they host Edgeworth at Cooks Square Park in the Match of the Round on Saturday. Lake Macquarie also play on Saturday and they’ll be hoping to overcome back-to-back crushing losses when they welcome Broadmeadow Magic to Macquarie Field.