The Match of the Round opened at Cooks Square Park, where Maitland welcomed Hamilton Olympic in what proved to be a closely fought 90 minutes.
Match of the Round
Maitland FC 0 drew Hamilton Olympic FC 0
Cooks Square Park
2.30pm, Sunday 10th April
The game kicked off at a slow pace and it was clear that both teams were settling back into the premier league pressures, until Hamilton were able to establish a dominance early with an attack on Maitland’s goals.
Although the attack down the left wing gave Jacob Bailey a thundering chance early on, Maitland’s Matthew Trott made his presence known on the field, making a key save with a dive to keep Maitland in the early game.
It looked clear that Maitland were happy to sit deep and absorb the pressure that Olympic were mustering, but the strategy proved successful in front of their boisterous crowd, with both sides recording the same amount of shots on target early on.
Lambton Jaffas 1 defeated by Edgeworth FC 2
Arthur Edden Oval
2.30pm, Saturday 9th April
The opening match of Round 1 was played at Arthur Edden Oval with the Lambton Jaffas hosting defending champions, Edgeworth.
With the first half going goalless, both sides got on the sheet with John Majurovski proving why he is one of the deadliest attackers in the competition for Lambton and Ayden Brice making his name once more for Edgeworth.
It looked set to be a draw for both sides, a result that Lambton would have happily taken against the team that claimed the double last season, but Keanu Moore was the hero for the defending champions, netting a late goal to take the three points for them and leaving Lambton disappointed after the ninety minutes.
Weston Workers FC 3 drew Newcastle Jets Youth 3
Rockwell Automation Park
2.30pm, Sunday 10th April
A six goal thriller was hosted by the Weston Workers Bears at Rockwell Automation Park, as the Newcastle Jets Youth squad travelled to take them on in the season opener.
A mistake from Weston’s young goalkeeper Will Myers saw him get caught on the wrong side of the goal mouth as the Jets’ Youth striker, Cameron Joice, put one into the back of the net.
Weston looked determined to regain the lead and Gary McDermott took the chances given to him and buried two goals without a reply at the home ground, but the one goal lead was all they could manage before half time.
The Jets continued their attack in the second forty-five minutes where a second goal came to them by an own goal from the Bears, levelling the score.
Broadmeadow Magic FC 7 defeated Adamstown Rosebuds FC 2
Magic Park
2.30pm, Sunday 10th April
A grudge match that is watched from all corners of the Play Station 4 National Premier League competition saw Broadmeadow welcome Adamstown to Magic Park after a change of venues for the Rosebud’s improvements at Adamstown Park.
Both sides had eagerly awaited the start of the season and the chance to get one over the other side.
Peter Haynes and Kale Bradbery both found the back of the net early, putting Adamstown on the back foot in front of the Magic fans, who welcomed early goals in the season with open arms.
The star of the match however was their returning signing, James Virgili, whose pace proved to be too much to handle for the Rosebud’s defenders, as he recorded a hat trick and put Adamstown well and truly out of the game.
Charlestown City Blues FC 2 drew Valentine FC 2
Lisle Carr Oval
2.30pm, Sunday 10th April
The final game of the opening round saw the newly promoted Valentine make the trip to Charlestown’s Lisle Carr Oval, where the Blues were waiting to test Valentine’s resolve.
It looked like Charlestown were willing to lock Valentine out after an early mistake from the travelling side’s defence, when Sam Bradshaw put one on the scoreboard and took the lead at home.
Half time saw the two sides level however, with Brenton Olzomer scoring a crucial goal for Valentine and shocking Charlestown back into action just as the sides were called into the sheds.
Although City returned to the field with attack in mind to break the deadlock, their forwards hit the post a number of times, but it was Ridge Marpu that found the back of the net next, giving Valentine their first lead to defend in the PlayStation 4 National Premier League for 2016.
It wasn’t to last however, with a draw being the flavour of the round for the Northern NSW top division.
CLICK HERE for a full match report from all of the opening round matches.