Hamilton kept their minor premiership hopes alive and put Weston under pressure to make the finals with a 5-1 demolition in the PlayStation® 4 NPL Northern NSW match of the round at Darling Street Oval on Sunday.
Hamilton Olympic FC 5 defeated Weston Workers FC 1
Sunday 2 August 2.30pm
Darling Street Oval
Match of the Round
Pat Brown scored a hat-trick for Hamilton, producing three left-foot finishes on counterattacks or turnovers deep in Weston territory.
Brown opened the scoring in the sixth minute and Matt Swan scored with a clever left-foot shot across his body in the 16th. Kane Goodchild then scored off a long ball which caught the Bears defence out of position in the 23rd minute.
Brown scored in the 65th and 72nd to make it 5-0 before Garry McDermott gave Weston their goal in the 74th.
The win keeps second-placed Hamilton (33 points) three points behind leaders Edgeworth (36) with games against Charlestown and Maitland to finish the regular season.
Weston dropped from third to fourth on 29 points, just three points ahead of Broadmeadow, who they host in round 17. The Bears finish the home and away season against Edgeworth.
Edgeworth FC 2 defeated South Cardiff FC 0
Friday 31 July 7:30pm
Jack McLaughlan Oval
Edgeworth left it until the final five minutes to overpower a spirited South Cardiff side 2-0 at Jack McLaughlan Oval on Friday night.
Dylan Holz showed pace and poise to finish a breakaway in the 86th minute and Bren Hammel hit a crisp, curling free kick inside the left post in the 88th to convert a mountain of pressure from the Eagles.
The victory kept Edgeworth (36) three points clear at the top of the table and gave them another confidence boost ahead of their FFA Cup round of 32 match against A-League side Melbourne City at Magic Park on Tuesday night.
Adamstown Rosebud FC 0 defeated by Lambton Jaffas FC 6
Sunday 2 August 2.30pm
Adamstown Oval
Lambton jumped back into third place and ended Adamstown’s semi-final hopes with a clinical 6-0 away win.
Alex Palozzi and John Majurovski scored doubles in the comfortable victory, which moved the Jaffas to 31 points with matches against Maitland and South Cardiff to come.
Adamstown remain sixth on 22 points, seven points off the top four, with games against South Cardiff and the Jets Youth remaining.
The Jaffas led 3-0 at halftime after Luke Remington set up Majurovski for the opener, Riley McNaughton scored with a long-range strike and Jobe Wheelhouse showed great skill close to goal to find space and the back of the net.
Majurovski converted a penalty after Remington was fouled to make it 4-0 before Palozzi came off the bench and scored a double. His first was off a ball from Michael Bridges and his second was a long-range shot.
Charlestown City Blues FC 1 drew with Maitland FC 1
Sunday 2 August 2.30pm
Lisle Carr Oval
Charlestown coach Shane Pryce was glad to walk away with a point despite Maitland producing an equaliser with just four minutes remaining in a 1-1 draw.
The Blues led 1-0 with 15 minutes remaining after Ben Hughes scored from a free kick.
Joel Wood put Maitland on level terms with a header.
Both sides were desperate for three points to skip clear of last-placed relegation South Cardiff, but the stalemate means they remain under threat.
Charlestown are four points ahead of South Cardiff and have a catch-up game against the Jets Youth on Wednesday then matches against Hamilton and Broadmeadow. Maitland are three points ahead of the Gunners and take on Lambton Jaffas and Hamilton in the last two rounds.
Broadmeadow Magic FC 5 defeated Newcastle Jets Youth 2
Sunday 2 August 2.30pm
Magic Park
Peter Haynes and Kale Bradbery scored two goals each as Broadmeadow defeated the Newcastle Jets Youth 5-2 at Magic Park to improve their finals chances.
The Jets went ahead early through Braedyn Crowley, who scored off a scramble from a corner kick.
Broadmeadow responded with goals from competition leading goal-scorer Bradbery and Dino Fajkovic which put Magic ahead 2-1 at half-time.
Ben Hay equalised with a deflected shot for the Jets midway through the second half before Magic piled on three goals in the last 15 minutes.
Haynes struck goals either side of Bradbery’s second and finished the scoring with a 60-metre shot which lobbed Jets Youth keeper Jesse Cook.
Click here for the full match reports from all of the matches.