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Hamilton Olympic v Broadmeadow Magic

Sunday 20^th May, 2:30pm at Darling Street Oval

It’s one of the biggest battles in Northern NSW football given the history between two of the local heavyweights, and this weekend’s clash is especially vital for both sides.

Magic could go top and Hamilton could go within touching distance of the top four with a win, but the history between the two sides won’t offer any clear favourite. In the 27 encounters since 2008, Hamilton has won 13 and Broadmeadow 11.

Hamilton hasn’t enjoyed the best start to the season and currently sit six points off the top four. With two league wins on the trot though, they’re back in form and looking for another scalp on Sunday.

Last Saturday was a tight, gritty 2-1 win over a quality filled Lambton side while Wednesday night they had a 2-0 win in the FFA Cup against fellow NPL side Weston, and their fourth win in as many matches.

If Hamilton can manage to keep a clean sheet this weekend, it may be the difference. They’ve kept just two in all competitions this season, but given Broadmeadow has scored on every outing this season, it may be a big ask.

The back end of last season saw Magic go on a magnificent run of victories and just miss out on a shot at championship glory, and now after six wins on the trot, things are looking up once more out at Magic Park.

Sunday is a chance for Broadmeadow to jump into top spot, given they have a higher goal difference and are just three points behind league leaders Charlestown who has the bye this weekend. That goal difference carries with it some of the best records in the league – they’ve scored the most and conceded the least.

Mitch Oxborrow was the key man on his second debut for Broadmeadow last weekend, and he’ll undoubtedly be so once again on Sunday. It will be interesting to see how Magic change their game, which usually places a lot of importance on their wide men, to adapt to the narrow pitch at Darling Street Oval.

Peter McGuinness (Hamilton)

“In patches last night (against Weston) we played quite well, we didn’t execute very well in the front third, we got in a lot of positions to create something and our final delivery wasn’t very good… the intensity was quite good, in the second half we got the goal we probably deserved, got a second late but the performance itself was quite good, happy to get through to the next round.

“Magic are a good side, they’ve got the best for and against and have scored more goals than anyone else in the league, they’ve got a lot of attacking threats, obviously they’re an experienced side with Piddo [Josh Piddington] at the back and Jon Griffiths whose very experienced, Luke Virgili, Mitch Oxborrow back gives them a little more attacking flair too.

“It’s one of the biggest games on the calendar, it’s probably the biggest derby and it has been for a number of years, even back to when I was playing they were always big games, and as a player you wanted to be playing in them because generally a good atmosphere, a good rivalry that isn’t over the top, it’s a sporting rivalry and it adds to the colour of the league.

“Our side isn’t young in age, but we’re young as a group and in how much time we’ve had together and the more time we spend together, playing games and training, developing those combinations and understanding how we want to play, that’s when we’ll get better. I’ve always thought our performances have been good but we’ve just not been smart enough to get points out of games, but that’s been getting better.”

 NPL Youth:

Round 11 Football  North Coast vs Hamilton Olympic at Taree Zone on Saturday 19 May.

U13s kick off at 10:00am

U14s kick  off at 11:30am

U15s kick off at 1:00 pm

U16s kick off at 2:30 pm

Lake Macquarie City v Edgeworth Eagles

Saturday 19^th May, 2:30pm at Macquarie Field

Home hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Lakes so far this season, who host an Edgeworth side who have lost just the once on the road in 2018.

Losses for both sides last weekend will spur them on to improved performances on Saturday, but Edgeworth will have history on their side: they haven’t lost to Lakes since 2013.

Just one win in their past five matches for Lakes has them sliding slowly down the ladder. Currently in tenth place, the Roosters have lost their last two matches – 2-0 to Maitland on Saturday, and 3-1 to Charlestown in the FFA Cup.

That loss to Maitland was notable for the absence of Lakes mainstays Tom and Sam Walker, who returned in the loss to Charlestown midweek. As always, those two men will be key this weekend – especially Sam, who only just holds onto his spot at the top in the race for the golden boot.

Home form hasn’t been a strong point for Lakes this season. They’ve won just two of their six matches at home, one of those against a weakened Maitland side in the league. They’re one of the leakiest teams too – 21 goals have gone through in eight league matches.

Top of the league and flying high, unbeaten since Round One was Edgeworth this time last week. A shock 1-0 defeat to Adamstown at home knocked them down to fourth place and was followed by a tight 1-0 win over Valentine in the FFA Cup on Wednesday.

Something which may worry Lakes will be the strength of Edgeworth on the road. They’ve lost just once from four matches away from home this season, but are conceding at a rate of slightly more than two a match.

So, will there be goals? It’s tough to tell. Edgeworth is the leakiest of the teams in the top four with 12 goals conceded but have only let through three in their past five matches.

What the coaches said:
Nick Webb (Lakes)

“Our first-half performance against Charlestown (midweek in the FFA Cup) was really poor by our standards, but the second half we did really well and dominated in the second half but just couldn’t put it in the net, one of those games but the first half performance didn’t allow us to push it as far as we wanted to.

“We rested a few players so we’re right for this week, but all on deck… I expect a tough match, Edgy got beat last weekend so they’ll be fired up and ready to go, they’re coached by the best coach in the league for some years now so it’s going to be a tough game all around, but the boys take on every challenge so if we can just stay in the contest I’m confident we can get away with the three points.

“We’ll set up how we always set up, we have a structure and that’s how we play, look to exploit wide areas and that’s what we’ll be looking to do again, try to block up the midfield and stop the ball getting to McBreen who’s still one of the best players in the league at his ripe old age, which is a testament to him.

“The table doesn’t lie, at the end of the day we are equal last and we’ve just got to make sure we’re better every week… we know where we should be, and it’s in our own hands.”

Valentine Phoenix v Adamstown Rosebud

Sunday 20^th May, 2:30pm at CB Complex

Back at CB Complex where they won their solitary league match of the season, Valentine desperately needs another three points but have it all to do against a red-hot Adamstown.

Rosebud have beat the league leaders two weeks running now and have lost to Valentine only once in recent history which stretches back to an FFA Cup clash in 2015.

Bottom of the ladder with six points, Valentine need a result. A 2-0 defeat to Charlestown in the second half last weekend was their fourth this year in the league.

Coach Darren Sills chose to rotate the squad on Wednesday night for the FFA Cup clash against Edgeworth, and it nearly paid off. A tight 1-0 defeat thanks to a second-half Dom Bizzarri goal denied them the opportunity to go to the quarter-finals.

The stats don’t make pretty reading for Phoenix – they’ve conceded twice as many goals as they’ve scored and hold the unfortunate record of the second worst goal difference in the division. They’ve snagged a win and a draw from their three matches at home – it’s a tough Adamstown they’ll face on Sunday though.

After going six rounds without a win at the start of the season, Adamstown is now one of the form teams of the competition. Five wins from their past five have propelled them from lingering around the bottom to within five points of the top four.

Two of those wins have been over the league leaders – their last triumph in the league was over Edgeworth, courtesy of a lone Luke Vallone goal in the second half. They overcame Raymond Terrace 3-0 in what shaped as a potentially tricky FFA Cup fixture on Wednesday night.

As the fairly new and fairly young cohort at Adamstown spends more time together, the better they seem to be getting. A red-hot run of form has turned heads around the competition however, with the bye next weekend, getting the three points on Sunday may be their most crucial task yet.

What the coaches said:

Darren Sills (Valentine)

“I’m very happy with how the side did on Wednesday night (in the FFA Cup loss to Edgeworth), we brought in some young guys from the 20s …I can’t fault the effort and the commitment of the lads, they did really, really well last night. We had a couple of chances, they had a couple of chances, it was a good game of footy.

“We had three blokes hit with the flu and one of them, Riley Russell, played a full 90 minutes at left back, and he was so crook… hopefully, he’s on the mend now. Chris Brown comes back hopefully after training on Thursday and plays in the 20s, he’s only played 15 minutes this season and his experience will be invaluable for some of the young blokes.

“Adamstown are on a crest of a wave, they’re going to be very very hard to beat, we have had trouble with them in the last two seasons and they’re similar to us, without being disrespectful they don’t have any out-and-out big names, former A-League stars… they’re a club like us, without a budget of some of the bigger clubs.

“What we have to do then is give some young blokes a go, give some people who are fringe players at other clubs a go, Cansdell-Sherriff has done a good job with them and turned their season around and I hope we can do the same.”

Maitland Magpies v Lambton Jaffas

Sunday 20^th May, 2:30pm at Cooks Square Park

Two of the contenders touted by the pundits pre-season, the result at Cooks Square Park on Sunday will have a huge impact on the ladder no matter the winner.

A Jaffas win would close the gap between them and the four to just one point, whereas a Maitland win could potentially stretch it to seven. There’s no big advantage when you look at the history between the two teams – six played since 2015, with two wins for Maitland and three for Jaffas.

A loss to Edgeworth dented their hopes at going top of the ladder at the end of round eight, but given results last weekend a win over Lambton today could see them jump into first place.

All the stats look good for the Magpies so far this season – second-highest scoring side, with the equal second strongest defence in the league. Just the one defeat at home this season will give them confidence ahead of another tough outing on Sunday.

Maitland is the only NPL club playing this weekend which wasn’t involved in midweek FFA Cup action, and this might give them a slight advantage this weekend.

Especially so against a Lambton outfit which is currently struggling for some depth whose task won’t be made any easier on Sunday due to their midweek FFA Cup clash against Northern League One side Cessnock.

The 4-1 win puts them through to the sixth round of the FFA Cup, but coach James Pascoe will have their attention turned firmly back to the league. The season is just ten weeks old, but a loss on Sunday could potentially open up a seven-point gap between Jaffas and the top four.

One player who will be fresh for Sunday’s trip to Maitland is youngster Braedyn Crowley, who was ineligible for Wednesday night’s FFA Cup fixture. Former Jets Youth man Finn Parris has also signed for Lambton and started against Cessnock.

The Round 10 match between Weston and Jets Youth was played on the 9^th of May, due to Jets Youth’s involvement in the Hong Kong Soccer Sevens this weekend. Weston won 2-1.

Charlestown has the bye this weekend

Source:northernnswfootball.com.au

Two goals in the second half by Hornery and Bertos were enough to see Hamilton Olympic progress to round 6 of the FFA Cup !

Source: Tom Tsamouras

This Wednesday night we will travel to Rockwell Automation Park for our round 5 FFA Cup fixture against Weston Workers Bears FC Kick off is 7:00pm!

source: Tom Tsamouras

Lambton Jaffas 1 (Griffiths 8’) def. by Hamilton Olympic 2 (Mooney 13’, Pettit 43’)
Saturday 12^th May, 2:30 pm at Arthur Edden Oval

An early Lambton goal in this one was shaping as crucial for an extremely undermanned side.

Ultimately the eighth minute Ryan Griffiths header wasn’t enough for Lambton as Hamilton roared back into form with their second come-from-behind victory in as many weeks.

Griffiths opened the scoring as he rose highest from a Bren Hammel corner, beating Hamilton keeper Tyler Warren to the ball and put the home side ahead 1-0.

A header inside the box just five minutes later from Hamilton’s Simon Mooney levelled things up. Olympic shifted the ball nicely from left to right, and a cut in and cross from Cody Lucas on the right-hand side found Mooney’s head who steered in a tight header under pressure.

Just minutes before half-time, Hamilton was ahead. Scott Pettit finished off a move which he started from the afters of a corner;  Pettit played a neat little one-two inside the 18-yard box with Jarryd Sutherland and buried the ball into the back of the net.

Pat Brown had a half-chance to get Lambton back on level terms in the 64^th minute, but he wasn’t able to get enough power on his header and steered it wide of the post.

Another header inside the box could have put Lambton level in the 82^nd minute, but Ben Hay’s bullet header from a Griffiths’ free kick went just wide of the post. There was to be no leveller in the end from Lambton, who fell to their second loss of the season.

Hamilton boss Peter McGuinness was pleased for his side to pick up their second win in as many weeks.

“I thought the first half we performed well and led. We responded well after going down and it was a pretty even sort of contest in difficult conditions,” said McGuinness.

“It was very windy at times, the pitch was bumpy and the conditions weren’t conducive to a good style of footy so ultimately I didn’t think it was the high standard of match that it could have been on a good surface on a clear day.

“Simon Mooney was good again, but I thought they all played well, to be honest, and we didn’t have too many players that didn’t dig deep, and the last 15-20 minutes or so we dug deep and looked to counter-attack as Lambton were driving on to get the equaliser, but they didn’t have much luck and we defended well and held on.”

McGuinness was pleased his side finally seemed to be getting their rub of the green, matching good results with good performances.

“We went down to Maitland and Edgeworth in the last minute of play, and this week we held on… our performances have been good.

“You have a little bit of fortune sometimes, and sometimes you don’t but what goes around comes around and it won’t stay away forever, that’s changed a bit.

“I think also, the mindset of the guys on the weekend, they wanted to reward themselves with a win and they fought hard, so that was pleasing.”

Under 20s Olympic won 2-0
Under 18s Olympic won 3-2

Zone League 2
Olympic vs Hunter Simba
1st Grade Olympic won 5-1
2nd Grade Olympic won 3-1

Community Juniors
Under 16s Olympic 1-5 Kotara South
Under 13s Olympic 1-0 New Lambton

Lake Macquarie City 0 def. by Maitland FC 2 (Dutton-Black 61’, Thornton 85’)
Saturday 12^th May, 7 pm at Macquarie Field

After a win over Maitland nearly two weeks ago, Lakes may have been quietly confident despite their opposition personnel somewhat bolstered since that encounter.

Instead, Maitland reversed the FFA Cup result from just ten days previous to maintain their position inside the top four.

The visitors had a plethora of corners but were unable to do anything from them. Their best chance was from the set piece in the 39^th minute, when Liam Thornton rose for the header but wasn’t able to turn it in.

Maitland built more and more pressure as the second half wore on, and in the 61^st minute finally found a breakthrough. They moved the ball down the right-hand side, and a Chris Fayers cutback evaded everyone in the penalty area except Josh Dutton-Black on the far corner of the six-yard box. He had time to take a touch and pick his spot for his second goal of the season.

A loose pass from Alex Read at the back in the 67^th minute nearly gave Lakes a chance to level the scores, but Manoli Papaspiropoulas was only able to find the side netting.

Lakes had the ball in the back of the net in the 78^th minute after a quick transition moved the ball up to Paul Sichalwe, whose neat little dink over the top found Sam Walker. The whistle sounded for offside though, and his shot after the fact didn’t count.

After a number of corners in the first half that Maitland couldn’t make count, one in the dying embers of the second half would. Thornton made a late run into the box and called for the ball, which was duly floated over onto his head.

The strike hit the head of Lakes’ Jayden Saetta and the underside of the crossbar, but Maitland appealed that the ball had crossed the line and the officials agreed and awarded Maitland’s second.

Lakes boss Nick Webb was proud of his side’s effort despite the result.

“We were a couple of troops down with an injury, so we set up to play on the counter-attack and we did quite well for sixty minutes, they got a goal but I was quite proud of the boys,” said Webb.

“We tried a different shape to stop conceding as many goals as we have been, and we did okay but obviously didn’t get the points… the couple of boys out made an enormous difference to the way that we play, our normal attacking style, we did really well for sixty odd minutes and frustrated them.

“If we had have held on for another ten or fifteen minutes we could have gone on the attack and really got after them, but we didn’t get a chance to do that and this week will be a lot different, we’ll go back to our normal style and it’ll be a lot different.

“Tom and Sam Walker were both missing, Tom’s our centre back and Sam runs our midfield, we haven’t got a big first grade squad so it was a big hole to fill, the boys did really well and I’m proud of them, but at the end of the day the style that we played didn’t get us the result.”

Webb indicated there would be some rotation for Wednesday night’s FFA Cup clash at Charlestown.

“The boys are looking forward to it, they’ll be able to get back out and have a little bit of fun with this game, we’ll check what team we put out on the paddock and there’s probably a few boys out there that need a rest at the moment,” said Webb.

“I’ll throw a few of the younger boys in there to give them a crack, and see how we go.”

Maitland coach Michael Bolch described it as a scrappy match.

“You take the conditions, we were playing on the lake and it was pretty windy so it’s hard with ball control, but I was happy with what the boys did,” said Bolch.

“They [Lakes] were very defensively structured, got a lot of numbers behind the ball but did well, they held their structures well and didn’t come out of the line and it took a lot to break them down, the boys were patient and it took us sixty minutes until the opening goal.

“We had quite a few chances before then but I was happy with the patience the boys showed to grind out the win, it’s a tough place to go and Lakes haven’t done too bad this year, only our second clean sheet of the year so the defensive structures we’re putting in place at the moment are working, and it’ll hold us in good stead for the next couple of weeks.”

Bolch was especially pleased with the contribution of captain Carl Thornton on Saturday night.

“He was very good for us, defensively he just marshalled everything and won everything we needed to win, the last twenty minutes when we went one up and they had to come at us a bit, he just shut down everything,” said Bolch.

“Between him and the two Swan boys (Andrew and Mat) in front of him, they did really well.”

The return of Matt Comerford from injury was encouraging for Bolch, who believes there’s much more to come from him.

“He’s very much short of a gallop, he missed a chunk of pre-season then injured his shoulder and only had two training sessions back since that, he gave us a good impact coming off the bench and over the next few weeks as we get more minutes into his legs, he’s only going to improve,” said Bolch.

“We’ll get a lot better in the front third, he’s one of the best-attacking players in the competition and he’s probably only played 120 minutes so far this year so once we get some minutes back into his legs and get him playing 90, he’ll improve our side dramatically.”

Charlestown City Blues 2 (Smith 58’, 66’) def. Valentine Phoenix 0
Sunday 13^th May, 2:30 pm at Lisle Carr Oval

It was a shock defeat for Charlestown last time out, and with only one win in their last four league matches, they desperately needed a boost before the bye next weekend.

They got just that, a Scott Smith double doing enough to propel Charlestown back to the top of the table.

Charlestown thought they’d scored in the 33^rd minute when Kevin Davidson dispossessed Joel Wood on the halfway line. He played a one-two with Cal Lewis and charged on, getting it back and firing in a shot (or cross) which Lewis got to first and buried it home.

The sides had returned to the half-way line and were ready to go, but discussions ensued between the referee and linesman on the near side and eventually the goal was disallowed as Valentine keeper Scott Carter had come out of his goal as one of his defenders rushed in behind.

This made Carter the last defender rather than the outfield player, and Lewis was adjudged to be beyond the last defender when Davidson’s cross was fired in. A decision which wasn’t entirely agreed upon by all, with Charlestown protesting in vain.

An absolute rocket from Scott Smith in the 58^th minute put Charlestown ahead properly for the first time. His free kick from around 30 yards out took a deflection on the way in which helped wrong-foot Carter in the Valentine goal and put the Blues ahead 1-0.

Another set-piece would wrap up the three points for Charlestown just eight minutes later when a Reece Pettit handball inside the Valentine box earned the Blues a penalty. Smith stepped up and buried his second of the day.

Rene Ferguson nearly scored a nice little flick in the 70^th minute from a Smith free-kick and forced a good diving save from Carter in the 72^nd minute. He wasn’t able to score though, but it didn’t matter for his team in the end as they returned to the top of the table.

Valentine assistant coach Sam Griffin was disappointed not to take anything away from Lisle Carr Oval.

“I think going in nil-all at half-time, after setting out to be in that position or even better gave us a chance to go on with it, but we didn’t really execute the way we would’ve liked in the second half,” Griffin said.

“I think we showed a bit too much respect to the other side, Charlestown are at the top somewhere but once you’re on the field it doesn’t matter where you are and you’ve just got to play what’s in front of you.

“I think we were a bit sheepish when we really should have taken the game to them, in the end, that’s what they did to us and that was the difference.”

Griffin was pleased with Valentine goalkeeper Scott Carter’s return to fitness following a shoulder dislocation.

“He was terrific, he pulled up okay which is good for us, you’ve never 100% sure how they’re going to come back.

“It probably helped that he was a bit fresher than others, but he did really well.”

Edgeworth Eagles 0 def. by Adamstown Rosebud 1 (Vallone 63’)
Sunday 13^th May, 2:30 pm at Jack McLaughlan Oval

A win over Charlestown last weekend was a fantastic result for Adamstown, their third win in a row after a troublesome start to the season.

Doing their best to show that it wasn’t just a stroke of luck, Rosebud struck once again this Sunday and knocked a different side off top spot with a massively important win over Edgeworth.

Adamstown nearly opened the scoring in the 7^th minute from a corner, when Connor Heydon flicked on a header from further out and forced a reflex save from Nate Cavaliere in the Edgeworth goal.

A glancing header from Pat Wheeler off a corner in the first-half injury time was perhaps Edgeworth’s best chance of the half, and it forced a good save from Adamstown keeper Benn Kelly.

The visitors took the lead in the 63^rd minute. From the goal kick, Chris Berlin clipped on the ball to Luke Vallone who set off in behind the defence. A deft little chip from him cleared Nate Cavaliere, and the chasing defenders could only follow the ball into the back of the net as Adamstown went ahead.

Edgeworth’s best chance to level things up came late in the afternoon when they were awarded a free kick on the edge of the area in second-half injury time. Tyson Jackson stepped up but put his effort just wide.

The loss moved Edgeworth off the top of the table all the way down to fourth and was the first time they’ve been kept scoreless this season. Adamstown shot up to sixth on the ladder and are remarkably just two wins outside the top four.

Adamstown boss Shane Cansdell-Sherriff was pleased with the way his side pinched a goal, and then hung on to the lead.

“Great win, great effort, it was a hard and well fought-battle,” said Cansdell-Sherriff.

“It was 50-50, both had our fair share of chances and we knew at half-time that we had a fair chance of getting something out of the game, we battled on and managed to get a goal on the break which caught them out.

“We defended more in the second half than we did the first half, but we reduced them to shooting from long range and playing long balls which is a sign of a good defence, it’s never going to be a perfect game where we’d dominate such a good and experienced side against them.

“Once they’re down, they’re trying to score so they’re chasing the game a little bit, we’re trying to hold on so they gamble a little bit more and push forward a little bit more, which pushed us back and made us dig in, but a win’s a win, we’ll take the three points and move on.”

The Rosebud men have been handed the underdog tag the past two weeks as they’ve knocked off the top teams in the competition, but Cansdell-Sherriff hasn’t been using it as a motivator.

“I said to the boys from the start that we’ll take it one game at a time, we’re a new side and we’ve got to have realistic expectations and when I say that I don’t have the bar way above our heads, but we’re not quite there as a team yet.

“We’re a team that’s been developing from the start, a lot of new faces and young boys, I think we’ve had eight boys debut in the league and they’ve done very very well… let’s keep working at it, learn about ourselves as individuals and as a team and let’s build slowly.

“We needed a little bit of luck to fall our way and once it fell we knew we’d get results, we’ve had it lately and picked up results but the boys are working really hard, they give 100% every training session and I’m getting everyone at every session, which makes my job easier because I get to coach the whole side but difficult because it raises questions over who I pick at the weekend.

“When you get that, it breeds confidence and that mentality and we want to keep driving forward… we’ve worked hard for it.”

Broadmeadow Magic 4 (O’Connor OG 17’, Oxborrow 19’, Broadley 43’) def. Newcastle Jets Youth 2 (Harrison 33’,
Sunday 13^th May, 2:30 pm at Magic Park

The big news throughout the week was the return of former Jets and Magic man Mitchell Oxborrow to Broadmeadow.

Oxborrow continued to steal the headlines on Sunday too, with two goals in a resounding Broadmeadow Magic victory which kept them in touch with the top spot.

The scoring was opened in the 17^th minute after Oxborrow played a ball in from the left-hand side. It fell to Joseph O’Connor to clear, but his shanked attempt cleared Noah James and put Magic ahead.

A corner from the opposite side just two minutes later doubled the lead for Magic. It was Oxborrow on the end of it once again, and he managed to score directly from the corner for his first goal back in Magic colours.

Jets Youth clawed their way back into the match in the 33^rd minute, and it was Kent Harrison with his second goal in a week. Ryan Goodhew played in the ball from the midfield, and Harrison unleashed a vicious shot from outside the penalty box and found the back of the net to make it 2-1.

Kale Bradbury was the architect of Magic’s third, which put them back ahead by two goals just before halftime. He cut in from the left-hand side and laid it back to Justin Broadley on the top of the box. Broadley took a touch and fired home with his right foot, his first goal in Magic colours.

Broadmeadow virtually put the game out of sight in the 59^th minute, after two former Newcastle Jets combined to make it four.

James Virgili collected the ball after a goal kick and struggled to beat his man, but a sliding tackle on him sent the ball through to Oxborrow. One-on-one with James, he made no mistake for his second of the afternoon.

Jets Youth would pull back a goal late in the match, but it proved only a consolation. It was a good strike though, Kent Harrison involved as he laid off a ball to Cai Tipaldo. His strike was good from outside the area and made the final score 4-2.

Source: northernnswfootball.com.au

Lambton Jaffas v Hamilton Olympic
Saturday 12^th May, 2:30 pm at Arthur Edden Oval 

Two sides who have clawed their way back among the winners will each be desperate to make it two in a row, but each for different reasons. 

Jaffas has the upper hand in recent history between these two sides, beating Olympic 2-1 in both legs of their semi-final last season. Lambton also won the regular season clashes in rounds one and twelve, 3-2 on both occasions.

Before Saturday, Lambton hadn’t won since round three. They only lost one match in that time though, and with just two defeats so far this season they sit just a point off the top four.

Round eight was a good one for Lambton, their third win of the season against a tough Jets outfit. Two goals is a comfortable enough margin, and it may have been more if not for some desperate defending at the opposition end.

Home form has been one of Lambton’s strong points this season. From their four fixtures at home, they have ten points – their only stumble was a draw with Adamstown in round five.

Scoring goals haven’t been the issue for Olympic this year but rather conceding them – they’ve let through 16 in seven matches, conceding three goals in a single match on four occasions.

More goals than the opposition is the name of the game though, and Hamilton did just that last time out in a high scoring affair over Lakes. The winning goal, a penalty, was controversial but it won’t matter to Olympic who desperately needed the three points.

It ensured they avoided a slip to the bottom after results were largely positive for those at the bottom of the ladder. Repeat performances from the likes of Simon Mooney, last week’s hat-trick hero, will go a long way in securing three more points this weekend.

What the coaches said
Peter McGuinness (Hamilton)

“I watched Lambton play last week (against Jets Youth) and thought they were very well organised and they have a lot of quality across the park, a lot of experience and they play good football. They know their jobs, they know their roles, and they’re well-coached.

“We’ve got to reshuffle this week a bit, Jacob Bailey will be missing and so will Rhys Cooper, who’s going to Spain for futsal with the Australian side, so a little bit of a reshuffle but we just have to make sure this is a game where we don’t give things away easy and we stay disciplined and play to a good structure, if we do that we’ll do alright.

“Training has been good even though we’ve lost games because the performances have been quite good, the players have felt there’s not a game we’ve played this year where we didn’t think we could win it… the boys have been really good, they seem upbeat and they know they can play good football, it’s just about being a bit more disciplined.”

Lake Macquarie City v Maitland Magpies
Saturday 12^th May, 7 pm at Macquarie Field 

There were defeats for both Lakes and Maitland in round eight, but an evening match on the lake may be just what they each need to jump back among the winners.

It will have only been 12 days since Lakes last played Maitland when the two sides kick off on Saturday evening after their clash in the FFA Cup last Wednesday night. Lakes won that match 2-0, but the Magpies won their two encounters in the league last season.

That midweek win over Maitland and a first clean sheet of the season would have been a big boost to a season for Lakes which has been up and down. A big win over Valentine is in contrast to consecutive league defeats to Jets Youth and Hamilton.

Last weekend’s result, the loss to Hamilton, was a tight one. Lakes were ahead twice early in the first half, but unable to see out that lead as they went down to a Hamilton side which was desperate for a victory.

Three goals in that fixture moved talisman Lakes striker Sam Walker to the top of the goal-scoring charts. He now has seven goals from seven appearances and will be keen to add to his tally this weekend to maintain his place at the top.

A good run for Maitland was brought to an abrupt halt last weekend against Edgeworth. That run, four league games without a loss was enough to ensure they shot into and remain in the top four.

Maitland boasts the equal-first most potent attack in the league, and they’ve managed to do it without any key stand out goal scorer. They have four players on three goals each so far this season – Ryan Clarke, Matt Comerford, James Thompson and Alex Read.

Incredibly, the Magpies have only played two matches away from home this season despite being eight rounds in – one in the league, and one in the cup. They’ve lost both of those, one at Lakes, and will be looking to put an end to bad away form before it can start.

What the coaches said:

Nick Webb (Lakes)

“We expect Maitland to be very strong, they were understrength in the pre-season and we played them understrength in the FFA Cup, we’re expecting them to be reeling from their loss on the weekend and going pretty hard, and we’ve got to stop leaking goals and put in a much more structured performance.

“I don’t think beating them in the FFA Cup gives us an edge, every game is a new game and they were undermanned in that game with about five or six out, we did really well but they certainly didn’t have Matt Thompson on the field and he makes an enormous difference to their squad.

“The loss last weekend won’t fire us up especially, we make sure to discuss all those things at training on Tuesday night and understand that there was a mistake and we move on. It might have been a point missed, but we’ve thrown away nine this year so it’s a bit hard to complain about one when we’ve thrown away nine. We’ve got to dig in and be defensively better.”

Michael Bolch (Maitland)

“Lakes are very good on the counter-attack, they set up well defensively and have a fair bit of pace up front. Sam Walker has been scoring a few goals lately so we’ll have to keep a close eye on him, he’s always a danger… they do very well on the break, (Nick) Webby has them set up very structured with the five-man back line.

“Things will be different from the FFA Cup loss, we rested six starters against them due to injury and fatigue so it’ll be a different game this weekend, three competition points up for grabs, we want to stay in contact with the top four so it’s a game that we want to win.

“We changed a few things up against Edgeworth last week and I thought we did really well for about 60 minutes against them, Matt Comerford back this weekend gives us a bit more of an x-factor in the final third. I think we’ve been a bit off the pace in the front third, we’ve created plenty of opportunities without being clinical so I think we need to improve that side of our game.”

Charlestown City Blues v Valentine Phoenix
Sunday 13^th May, 2:30 pm at Lisle Carr Oval 

The match before the bye for Charlestown is one which they’ll be desperate to win and mark out some sort of advantage in the top four, but it won’t be an easy task given Valentine has finally snagged their first win of the season and will want to make it two. 

It’s been almost five years since Charlestown has beaten Valentine – a 7-1 victory back in August 2013. Phoenix beat the Blues on both occasions last year, the most recent a 3-1 win in late May.

After a barnstorming run to kick off the season, Charlestown goes into this weekend without a league win since round six. Last weekend’s loss to Adamstown was a shock to the league.

Their place inside the top four is safe no matter the result this weekend, and they’ll be eyeing a return to the top. A big win could do it, and they may be looking for more goals given they’re currently the lowest scoring side in the top four.

Injuries are mounting up at Charlestown with Kane Goodchild, Daniel Minors and now Riley McNaughton sidelined. McNaughton came off in the 17^th minute in last week’s outing with a torn medial ligament.

Valentine has been hit with injury problems of their own, with striker Daniel Ott set to not play a single match for the club. The Achilles injury he suffered in the pre-season looks to have forced him into retirement.

Darren Sills has brought in Matt Paul as an injury replacement and he played his first league match for Valentine this season at the weekend against Weston. That match was their first win in the league this season.

This is the first of a difficult run leading into the bye for Valentine. Charlestown on Sunday, followed by Adamstown and Edgeworth. If they can spring a second upset on Charlestown, it bodes well for Phoenix who now sits bottom of the ladder after Weston’s midweek win.

What the coaches said

Sam Griffin (Valentine assistant)

“Charlestown will be a bit fired up given they’ve probably been below their own expectations the last couple of weeks so we’re expecting a bit of an onslaught I think.

“There will be times where we’ll sit and counter against them, but it’s just about playing what’s in front of us but we’ve turned a bit of a corner now and scored eight goals in two games, so we’ve gone from being really defensive to quite offensive so we’re still trying to find that middle ground, and we’re getting closer.

“There’s no powerful force in football than a win, just look at Adamstown at the moment who have hit a bit of form and they beat Charlestown last week who no one but they would have expected, so they’ve got the belief like we have and there’s no reason why we don’t see ourselves as a massive chance to win this game.” 

Edgeworth Eagles v Adamstown Rosebud
Sunday 13^th May, 2:30 pm at Jack McLaughlin Oval 

The now league leaders and perennial premiers, Edgeworth will have to be wary of an Adamstown side which finally looks to have clicked if they want to extend their unbeaten run to eight matches.

Back at the top of the heap, it’s where Edgeworth was last year when they did away with Adamstown on two occasions last year – an aggregate score of 9-0 in their two fixtures last season. Rosebud hasn’t beat Edgeworth since July 2015.

Things are clicking for Edgeworth. They extended their unbeaten run to six matches at the weekend with a tight win over Maitland and exhibited the type of defensive performance to which we’re accustomed to seeing from the Eagles.

Daniel McBreen is one playing who seems to be enjoying a new lease on life this season as he scored his fourth goal in three appearances at Maitland on Sunday. His experience, combined with the pace of the players around him could cause Rosebud issues this weekend.

Edgeworth’s record with sides outside the top four so far is stellar this season – maximum points in the three games over Jets Youth, Weston and Hamilton. The Eagles have a recent form on their side, but Adamstown will be full of confidence after a fantastic week.

That fantastic week began with a round seven victory over Weston, followed by an FFA Cup win over Northern League One side Toronto and culminated in a huge upset victory over Charlestown.

Adamstown is likely to set up for this match similarly to how they did against Charlestown last weekend, given the success they had. It’s another well-drilled, experienced opponent this weekend and another big match.

One highlight of their season thus far has been the form of Connor Heydon, who currently has five goals from eight league matches this season. Those five account for more than half of Rosebud’s total of nine this season.

What the coaches said

Shane Cansdell-Sherriff (Adamstown)

“Edgeworth have a lot of experience, they’re well organised with a lot of confidence and we’re expecting a tough game. Our approach will be very similar to Charlestown, a lot of experience in the side so we have to respect that and their position in the league, the quality of the players in their team, we’ve just got to work hard and fingers crossed.

“The boys have taken a lot of confidence from the past three games, some good results but we’ve got a long way to go. We’ve had two good performances from the three results, I don’t think the Weston win was a good performance, but we’ve still got a long way to go, hard work to do and places where we need to learn things.

“Connor (Heydon) is always going to be a threat, so hopefully we can utilise him in the right way and I’m just happy he’s out there enjoying his football, he’s playing with a smile on his face which is great to see.”

Broadmeadow Magic v Newcastle Jets Youth
Sunday 13^th May, 2:30 pm at Magic Park 

Fresh from a week on the sidelines, Magic will be keen to put the pressure on the top two with a win over a Jets Youth outfit this weekend which could jump into the four with a win.

A stellar record over the Jets will give Magic a little more confidence going into this match. An aggregate 7-1 record across two matches last year is in Magic’s favour, and they’ve not lost to Jets Youth since June 2014.

Magic slipped only one place last weekend with the bye, and are still both inside the top four and within reach of first place. They did play a match in that period though, a 4-1 win over Wallsend in the FFA Cup.

With seven games behind them, Broadmeadow currently boasts the best defence in the league. They’ve conceded just seven goals this season, two less than the next best side, Lambton.

They’ve also got the equal best attack in the league. It’s no surprise though, with the type of attacking firepower they’ve got up front though, which will only be boosted by the huge sign in of Mitch Oxborrow.

Oxborrow returns after a stint with Brisbane Roar and coach Ruben Zadkovich will hope he can have the same type of explosive impact he did for Magic last season. He will be especially important this weekend, given Magic will be without Dino Fajkovic (suspension), along with James Virgili, John Majurovski, Takebe Soma (injury). Kale Bradbury is also in doubt after copping a knock in their FFA Cup win over Wallsend last weekend.

It’s been a yo-yo type of season so far for Jets Youth, who haven’t been able to put two wins together despite three victories so far this season. This will be their third league match in eight days.

The first of that run was last Saturday against Lambton, where they went down 2-0. Misery was compounded on Wednesday night with a 2-1 loss against to a desperate Weston.

Despite the midweek loss, the inclusion of Angus Thurgate at Weston appeared to have a big impact on the side in the final third. They’re the third lowest scoring side in the competition, and they may look to the attacking midfielder to help create more.

What the coaches said

Ruben Zadkovich (Magic)

“I don’t read too much into recent results around the competition, what I do know about the Jets Youth team is they have some handy boys in there, people like Angus Thurgate are quite crafty and potentially some of the younger boys who are in there because they’re good footballers and they’re talented.

“I expect them to be good on the ball, mobile, and we’ll have to defend as a unit… we had four or five days off with the bye after the cup game last weekend, let the boys have time with the family, no football and a bit of a freshen up which was good.

“Mitch Oxborrow will bring hard work to the side. He’s a quality talent, he’s everything we want at Magic, he’s a good quality asset and he’s happy to play whatever role we give him, he wants to be there for the boys and having a player of his talent and his attitude is awesome. He trained with us Wednesday night.”

Weston has the bye

source: http://northernnswfootball.com.au

Hamilton Olympic 4 (Mooney 7’, 21’, 39’, Pettit PEN 63’) def. Lake Macquarie City 3 (Sichalwe 3’, Walker PEN 13’, 58’)
Sunday 6^th May, 2:30 pm at Darling Street Oval

Nothing but a win would have done for Hamilton on Sunday, who were fighting hard for a positive result after losing by slim margins time and time again so far this season.

It took a controversial penalty to get them over the line, but Olympic wouldn’t have cared as they edged out Lakes in a seven-goal thriller.

It was a match that was tit-for-tat almost the entire way through, Lakes getting things started through Paul Sichalwe in just the third minute. Their brand of counter-attacking football on full show looked to have opened up a chance, but it was when things broke down that the chance opened up.

Attempting to play their way out of trouble, Olympic’s Reece Papas was caught on the ball just outside the box. It sat up nicely for Sichalwe, and he made no mistake from the edge of the 18 to make it 0-1.

Keen to level things, the home side did just that in the seventh minute. Simon Mooney rose from a corner and headed home to square it up at 1-1.

Lakes was ahead just five minutes later after Tom Davies slid in to make a tackle inside the area and handballed. Davies wasn’t too pleased with the decision, but Sam Walker stepped up regardless and scored his sixth goal in four matches to make it 1-2.

Hamilton got level once again in the 21^st minute as they were keen not to rest on their laurels. A floated ball in from Cody Lucas just beat the head of Lakes’ defender Corey Fletcher, and Mooney was there again to square things up.

Hamilton went ahead for the first time in this match just minutes from half-time, Mooney the beneficiary of another great ball, this time from the opposite side. A good touch from Mooney brought it under his control, a measured chip beat Lakes’ keeper Stuart Plant and made it 3-2.

In the 58^th minute, Walker shot his way to the top of the competition goal-scoring charts after firing home from outside the area. His shot took a deflection on the way, and Lakes was level.

The key moment in this match would come in the 62^nd minute when Tom Sparre dove in on Scott Pettit and looked to have won the ball. A penalty was awarded however and Pettit converted the penalty which he won to send his side ahead 4-3.

Despite more chances at both ends, 4-3 is how it’d stay. Hamilton claiming their first home win in the league this season, while Lakes left searching after conceding nine goals in their last two outings.

Speaking to BarTV Sports after the match, Hamilton coach Peter McGuinness called it a ‘relief’ to have claimed a first league win since round two.

“The group can play good football, week in week out we tend to find ourselves chasing games whether it be through individual mistakes, switching off or whatever reason and it happened again today,” said McGuinness.

“I thought we could have scored in the first minute, we had another opportunity and then we were down again which was the frustrating part… today was about getting a win, getting some points.

“I know they can play football, I know we can develop them further as footballers and as a team but without that key ingredient of winning games, it’s hard to build momentum and get confidence.

“Hopefully we take that into a good week of training and go up against Jaffas next week, a little bit of confidence, we know we can score it’s just about keeping the other end tidy.”

Under 20s – Olympic won 4-1
Under 18s – Lakes won 0-1

NPL Youth
Olympic vs Valentine
Under 16s Olympic won 3-1
Under 15s Valentine won 3-4
Under 14s postponed
Under 13s drew 4-4

Zone League 2
Olympic vs Nelson Bay
1st Grade Olympic won 4-3
2nd Grade Nelson Bay won 2-3

Community Juniors
Under 16a Olympic 4-3 South Wallsend
Under 14a Olympic 2-1 West Lakes
Under 13a Olympic 2-1 Cessnock
Under 12a Olympic 1-6 Magic

Thursday night
Under 16a Olympic 5-1 Lambton

Valentine Phoenix 4 (Pettit 6’, 58’, Willard 44’, Niyonkuru 86’) def. Weston Bears 3 (Barner 1’, Buswell 79’, 88’)
Sunday 6^th May, 2:30 pm at CB Complex

Sunday at CB Complex was a to-and-fro contest between two sides desperate to propel themselves back into the winners’ circle – Weston for the first time since round four, Valentine for the first time this season.

The home side didn’t do it the easy way but managed to do just enough to see out the Bears and grind their way out of last on the ladder.

It didn’t look like things were going to go their way after Jake Barner opened the scoring for Weston after just 35 seconds. New signing Kamon Bol sent a floating ball over to the back post, which Barner headed in.

Valentine was straight on the front foot, and it didn’t take them long for a response. Reece Pettit was the beneficiary of a deep free kick, the captain in the mixer and making no mistake with his header from inside the six-yard box to make it 1-all.

Tega Adjeke went close in the 29^th minute after breaking away from a number of defenders and fired off a wicked shot which dipped too late over the crossbar.

A game of pinball ensued inside the penalty area in the 36^th minute after Valentine was awarded an indirect free kick for a pass back from Kamon Bol which was picked up by Kane Runge.

Joel Wood’s effort after the free kick that was touched to him was saved, the ball fell to Josh Carroll who saw his shot fly back off the post before Christian Kershaw’s shot went wide into a Bears player. It fell back to Matt Paul, and his shot deflected out for a corner and Weston got away by the skin of their teeth.

Valentine would go ahead just before halftime, and it was another free kick. Floated in from the right-hand side, it was knocked down in the area to Luke Willard who poked home to put his side ahead 2-1.

Wood had an extraordinary chance to double the home side’s advantage just moments after half-time, but he was denied by a low Kane Runge save.

Valentine did double their lead nearly fifteen minutes into the half after they took full advantage of yet another set piece. It was the captain again, Pettit, who rose and headed home to make it 3-1.

Jackson Burtson had a good opportunity in the 71^st minute but didn’t get enough power into the shot, before Shinji Shozu forced another good save from Runge down to the keeper’s left in the 76^th.

Weston got themselves back in with a shout in the 79^th minute after Cooper Buswell rose for the header after a deep Nathan Morris free kick and scored his first goal of the season.

Any hope of a Weston comeback was virtually snuffed out after substitute Aaron Nikonyuru started and finished a move, the goal a precise curling shot into the near post to make the score 4-2.

The visitors may have had their hopes up slightly once again in the 88^th minute after Cooper Buswell rose yet again, this time from a Jordan Jackson cross, and headed home to bring the Bears within a goal. Valentine proved too strong at the end, holding out their opponents for a priceless victory.

Valentine coach Darren Sills was ‘happy and relieved’ to have picked up his side’s first win of the campaign.

“It’s good for the club, we got all three grades up,” said Sills.

“We had a blatant penalty disallowed, we hit the post, one-on-one chance with Joel Wood and we should have been more than 3-1 up… Weston had a couple of chances, but we had enough to put them to bed plenty of times over.

“We still scored four goals, but defensively it was lacking at set pieces, in particular, that’s something we have to work harder on… when you score four goals you should win comfortably, not conceding three off set pieces.

“Utilised more of an impact role for Aaron (Niyonkuru) and Shinji (Shozu), pleased within particular Aaron, he did well and Shinji is still a work in progress but he’s doing okay.”

Newcastle Jets Youth 0 def. by Lambton Jaffas 2 (Crowley 34’)
Saturday 5^th May, 2:30 pm at Arthur Edden Oval

Without a league win since round three, but a huge cup win just days prior, Lambton desperately needed all three points to keep touch with the top on Saturday.

In the shadow of McDonald Jones Stadium and the impending Hyundai A-League grand final, a champion side chock-full of former Newcastle Jets players did the job against the next generation and kept Lambton’s second clean sheet of the season.

Jaffas broke through in the first half, the goal coming after a Bren Hammel free-kick forced a good, high save from Noah James. The ensuing corner from Joel Griffiths was met in the middle by Braedyn Crowley, who scored his first league goal in Lambton colours.

The home side nearly had two just a minute later, after breaking quickly down the pitch and finding Joel Griffiths. He put a foot on it inside the six-yard box for the onrushing Ryan Griffiths, but he was caught perhaps unaware and managed to dribble his shot into the arms of James.

Not long after the break, Jaffas had two. Crowley had a big hand in this one too, squaring the ball to Ben Hay from the left-hand side. Hay slipped through Tom Waller, who finished strongly to make it 0-2.

Jets Youth nearly had one back in the 71^st minute, after a Kent Harrison cross was put narrowly wide by Jaffas defender Michael Sessions. In the end, neither side was able to add to the score-line and Lambton jump the Jets to move into fifth place.

Adamstown Rosebud 3 (Carias-Cox 19’, Heydon 30’, def. Charlestown City Blues 2 (Tull 3’, Lewis 66’)
Sunday 6^th May, 2:30 pm at Adamstown Oval

Going into last weekend’s clash with Weston, Adamstown was in all sorts of trouble after six league matches without a win and more than twenty goals conceded in those fixtures.

After full-time yesterday, Rosebud now finds themselves with three wins (two in the league, one in the cup) on the trot and can count themselves as only the second side to have got the job done against Charlestown this season.

It looked like Adamstown may have been in for another long afternoon when Charlestown captain Matt Tull poked home from a corner in just the third minute to put the visitors, and league leaders, ahead.

The home side would find a way back in shortly after though, with a corner from the same side the catalyst. The ball found Tom Carias-Cox at the near post, and his glancing header found the back of the net and made it 1-1.

On the half-hour mark, Adamstown was ahead. A ball across from the left off the boot of Judd Duncan found Connor Heydon, who met it superbly on the volley and steered it home past Danny Ireland.

It was a superb individual effort from Cal Lewis which levelled the scores in the 66^th minute. He received the ball on the right-hand side, beat two defenders and fired home into the top of the net past Benn Kelly to make the score 2-all.

Charlestown nearly had a third in the 67^th minute, when a curling Scott Smith effort was deflected just over the bar.

A quick counter-attack would eventually prove the difference between the two sides in the 78^th minute. Adamstown streaked away down the pitch, and it was Connor Heydon who was the beneficiary of a Chris Berlin ball in. His shot made its way in with the help of the inside of the far post.

Adamstown thought they had a fourth in the 83^rd minute when a Turki Alwesaidy free kick on the edge of the area found Chris Berlin, and his effort was poked home by Connor Heydon – but he was offside.

Charlestown nearly pinched a point in the 94^th minute after a free kick was let through the legs of Riley McNaughton and nearly caught Kelly off guard in goal, but it wasn’t to be as Adamstown celebrated a huge win.

Maitland Magpies 1 (Clarke 28’) def. by Edgeworth Eagles 2 (McBreen 21’, Bower 78’)
Sunday 6^th May, 2:30 pm at Cooks Square Park

With both sides level on points and first place potentially up for grabs, Maitland and Edgeworth were coming into a difficult clash on the hill at Cooks Square Park.

Edgeworth is looking like the competition has come to know again, as they claimed a priceless victory to extend their unbeaten run to six matches and shoot up to the top of the heap.

It was Daniel McBreen who opened the scoring for Edgeworth with his fourth goal in his past three matches. It was scrappy, McBreen was the beneficiary of a loose ball inside the area after a corner, but he wouldn’t have cared as Edgeworth went ahead 0-1.

Only seven minutes later, Maitland was level. A nice one-two between Ryan Clarke and Chris Fayers saw the former emerge with the ball, and was allowed to run on goal before pulling up and curling in a nice effort from outside the 18-yard box to make it 1-1.

The Eagles nearly went ahead in the 59^th minute after a free kick in from Tyson Jackson was met by the head of Josh Evans, but came back off the crossbar.

It has so often been the late show for Edgeworth this season, and it was so once again on Sunday. Substitute Will Bower found himself free inside the area after beating Liam Thornton and cutting back onto his left foot.

Bower unleashed a curling shot, which left Matt Trott with little he could do as it rippled the back of the net and put Edgeworth ahead.

1-2 is how the score would stay, Maitland missing their chance to go the top of the ladder and slipping to fourth with their second loss of the season.

Edgeworth coach Damien Zane said he believed his side ‘deserved’ the win.

“The way that we played, we had to be patient and we were and it’s good, the depth in our squad showed and the effort from the boys off the bench helped us get over the line,” said Zane.

“It was a decent performance, I thought we defended pretty well and didn’t give up much apart from their goal which was a pretty decent strike.”

Despite shooting from fourth to first with the win, the Eagles aren’t getting ahead of themselves just yet.

“It’s early days yet, we hope we can maintain it, we’ve been pretty lucky so far to avoid injuries but it’s a long season and there’s a long way to go so we’re not getting ahead of ourselves,” said Zane.

“The goal we had was semi-finals, that’s our first step and as it gets closer we’ll start thinking about premierships.

“Josh Rose was fantastic, he had a big night on Saturday as one of the retiring players but he was full of energy and you could see his quality,” said Zane.

“The way we trained on Friday when he was there, there was a spring in the boys’ step and he’s added to us already, he’ll be a great fit.”

source: northernnswfootball.com.au

Hamilton Olympic v Lake Macquarie City
Sunday 6^th May, 2:30 pm at Darling Street Oval

Despite scoring five goals between them in last week’s matches, both Olympic and Lakes come into Sunday’s match off the back of losses.

Runners-up in 2017, Hamilton has a slight edge over Lakes in terms of recent history with a 4-0 victory and 1-all draw in rounds 21 and 10 respectively.

It’s been a case of so close, yet so far for Hamilton in all three league games since they played the bye in round four. A tight 2-1 defeat to Jets Youth in round five, with misery compounded by last-gasp defeats to the hands of Edgeworth and Maitland in the ensuing weeks.

Results have been poor, but performances not so and Hamilton desperately need to convert good play into three points. Doing so this weekend could propel them as high as seventh in the ladder, from their current place in tenth.

Lakes had their own midweek FFA Cup clash, emerging 2-0 victors over fellow NPL side Maitland with just their second clean sheet of the season so far. It’s a far cry from last Sunday’s result, wherein they went down 5-3 to Jets Youth.

Individual errors at the back were perhaps the Roosters’ biggest problem against Jets Youth, and the signing of Stuart Plant from Charlestown will give them depth between the sticks. His experience with Singleton in the Northern League One last season, and Charlestown in the early stages of this season will serve Lakes well.

One of Lakes’ biggest strengths this season has been their lethality in front of goal. With 14 goals so far, they’re the fourth most potent side in the league. Sam Walker has been their best in front of goal with five, Mitch Hunter is close on his tail with four.

What the coaches said:

Nick Webb (Lakes)

“As we proved on Wednesday night (against Maitland), if we just play to our structures without really concentrating on where to break opposition down essentially, we’re quite confident in creating chances in our front third but it’s a matter of taking them, and keeping things tight in the back line and the clean sheet on Wednesday was an improvement on last weekend.  

“That win over Maitland has given us a boost, they were weakened there’s no doubt but our biggest focus in that game was a clean sheet… it was a good debut by Stuart Plant, he gave us some real leadership at the back and he’s been a great addition already.

“He brings that leadership at the back, the other boys are great competitors but they’re just not mature as yet like you need in a ‘keeper and Stuey give us that extra bit of confidence.”

First Grade: 2:30pm
U/20s: 12:30pm
U/18s: 10:45am

NPL  YOUTH ROUND 9:

Valentine vs Hamilton Olympic at Cahill Oval

U13s kick off at 10am

U15s kick off at 11.30am

U16s kick off at 1pm

Valentine Phoenix v Weston Bears
Sunday 6^th May, 2:30 pm at CB Complex

Anchored to the bottom and desperate for a first league win of the season, Valentine has it all to play for when they host Weston this Sunday afternoon.

Weston turned heads with a win against Broadmeadow back in round four but after three losses on the trot, they’re in desperate need of a shot in the arm themselves.

History may be on the side of the hosts though, who haven’t lost to Weston since they were promoted back to the top flight in 2016. A 3-0 Valentine victory in August was the last time these two sides met.

With Adamstown’s win last weekend, Valentine is now the only side without a league win so far this season. Their 4-3 triumph over Zone League side Dudley in the FFA Cup will have given the side some confidence.

In a loss for Valentine, it’s been confirmed with the opening of the NPL transfer period that they’re now without midfielder Aden Gardner, who made his debut for new club Charlestown in the FFA Cup on Wednesday night.

The lowest scoring side in the competition, it’s evident the loss of Jalon Brown is hurting Valentine immensely. The singing of former NPL NSW striker Daniel Ott was expected to go some way in filling his absence, but Ott is yet to play for Valentine this season due to injury.

Their low scoring record has only been exacerbated by a pair of misses from front-man Joel Wood in the past fortnight. After a pair of clinical finishes against Hamilton in round three, Wood has been missing that solid finish in past weeks. Reclaiming it may be the difference on Sunday.

Despite last weekend’s defeat, Weston didn’t lose their position on the ladder and remain in eighth. It’s an improvement on last season but it’s still a tenuous position; if results go against them this weekend, they could end up in the last place come Sunday evening.

It was a finally clinical Adamstown outfit which got away with Weston last weekend, the Bears unable to find a breakthrough to take at least a point. They weren’t able to create many clear-cut chances in the final half hour despite dominance in the front third, and a glaring Tega Marcus miss in the final minutes topped off a bad day for Weston.

In a blow for the Bears, young winger Regan Lundy looks to be out for an extended period after suffering a serious leg injury midway through the second half on Saturday afternoon. The full extent of that injury will be clearer when he goes for scans later in the month.

Sunday shapes as an opportunity for Weston to shake off their malaise away from home. They’ve not taken any points from four matches on the road so far this season and conceded at an average of three goals a game. A good result this weekend leading into the bye could make all the difference to the Bears’ bigger picture.

What the coaches said

Sam Griffin (Valentine assistant)

“There’s no particular area where we think we can target Weston, a bit of a change of fortunes from last year when they were at the bottom and we were doing well. They’ve certainly lifted their game, especially that game against Broadmeadow (2-1 win in round 4) and they’re a force to be reckoned with.

“They’ve got experience back in the there with Nathan Morris and that’s helped out their backline a lot, they’ve got players that can hurt us… the FFA Cup win has given us confidence we can score, and confidence has a lot to do with goal scoring, you’ve just got to expect goals will come but we haven’t been playing well enough or been clinical enough.

“It’s not just our finishing but it’s our passing to get into those areas, but that win last night (against Dudley) will give us confidence that we can get the ball into those areas and we can score. Wilson Edwards sat out against Dudley but he’ll back for Sunday, and Scott Carter is likely still out.”

Newcastle Jets Youth v Lambton Jaffas
Saturday 5^th May, 2:30 pm at Arthur Edden Oval

It’s fifth versus sixth, and eight rounds in these are positions the punters expected neither of these sides to occupy at this stage this season.

Despite recent form, Jets Youth has a solid track record against Lambton with two wins against Jaffas in the past two seasons. The most recent encounter between the two saw Lambton emerge with a 4-2 win, in August last year.

With this match set to act as somewhat of a curtain raiser to the A-League grand final across the road just hours later, both coaches will have to work to ensure their troops have their mind firmly on the job.

None more so than Lawrie McKinna and Labinot Haliti, who have the task of preparing their young Jets for their quest to win back-to-back for the first time since July last year.

They were clinical last weekend, scoring five goals with three of those coming directly from Lakes’ mistakes – but make no mistake, they weren’t the easiest of finishes.

A string of good results so far this season has Jets Youth sitting in the fifth spot on the ladder. They could jump into the top four if results work in their favour, but make no mistake Jets Youth are not the easy beats they were for much of 2017.

That type of level-headedness will be absolutely necessary once again this weekend, as they face a side which has been one of the competition’s best for a number of years and boasts their share of ex-Jets.

That side, Lambton, come into this one without a league win since round three. A midweek rout of South Cardiff may have helped boost confidence amongst the group, however, the 11-0 win including a hat-trick for Luke Remington.

The big news during Lambton’s week off was their signing of former Newcastle Jets and Melbourne City man Brayden Crowley. He’ll offer something different to their stack of talented front men, and James Pascoe will hope he can help kick Jaffas into gear this week.

Adamstown Rosebud v Charlestown City Blues
Sunday 6^th May, 2:30 pm at Adamstown Oval

Two wins from two games after a poor start to the year will have Rosebud bouncing this week, but with both eyes firmly on what is a monumental task this weekend.

Charlestown comes into this one with a history largely on their side – they’ve lost only twice to Adamstown in their last 11 matches in a run which stretches back to the two team’s time in the Northern League One.

Last weekend was a happy one for Adamstown, who managed to grind out a 2-1 win away to Weston and jump out of the last spot on the ladder.

It will be their third match against sides currently in the top four at this stage of the season and with the aggregate score in the previous two matches at 13-1 against Adamstown, they’ll have to dig deep to find a result.

The combination between Chris Berlin and Connor Heydon up front seemed to finally come together last weekend and spark plenty of chances. If they can find that again this weekend, and finish chances as they come, they may be able to rock the boat.

Rosebud made it back-to-back wins with a victory over Toronto Awaba in the FFA Cup on Wednesday night. There were four different goal scorers for Rosebud in the 4-1 win.

There have been comings and goings for Charlestown with the short opening of the transfer window this week, with Valentine’s Aden Gardner linking up with the club while reserve goalkeeper Stuart Plant has gone to Lakes.

They’re likely not to cause too much disruption to the league leaders, who boast the equal best defence in the league which was penetrated only once by Edgeworth last weekend in their 1-all draw.

Kane Goodchild’s return to the side was delayed last weekend thanks to an aggravation of his hamstring injury at training throughout the week, which has pushed his return back to around round 11. Daniel Minors is out this weekend and is looking at a similar timeframe for his return.

Charlestown didn’t miss him too much midweek though, as they romped home to a huge win over Zone League rivals Hamilton Azzurri. The huge 10-0 win included two goals for debutant Aden Gardner.

What the coaches said

Shane Cansdell-Sherriff (Adamstown)

“I haven’t made my mind up about our approach to Charlestown, but they’re leaders and we’ll respect that and we will have a game plan to try and stop them play their game, they’re a good side.

“Every win is great, especially with young boys in the team because it’s big for their confidence and helps them on the right way but importantly it shows we’re going in the right direction and they’re taking on board what we’re talking about in training, and last night (4-1 win over Toronto in the FFA Cup) was a good run out, especially for the young boys.

“I think we played better against Broadmeadow than we did against Weston, but we lost 4-0. Against Weston, I didn’t think we played particularly well but we got a result so I’m more concentrating on the FFA Cup performance and get the boys playing along those lines.”

David Tanchevski (Charlestown)

“I don’t look too much at what the other teams are doing, I focus on what my team needs to do and we approach every game as they come and we don’t look further than the week ahead, Adamstown has a couple of good results and can beat us on the day.

“This competition is like that, anyone can beat anyone on their day if you don’t turn up and we’ve seen that with Lambton drawing to Adamstown and Valentine, so we have to focus on this weekend and there will be a reshuffle due to an injury to Daniel Minors.

“The FFA Cup match hasn’t had too much of an effect, we probably cruised through a little bit too with one eye on the weekend so we were able to play a few of the younger boys and rest some key players… Jarrod Purcell impressed with a goal and played well, but we won’t change a team which is doing well but there will be opportunities with injuries and suspensions.”

Maitland Magpies v Edgeworth Eagles
Sunday 6^th May, 2:30 pm at Cooks Square Park

Third plays fourth this weekend as both look to take all three points and keep up the pressure on Charlestown at the top.

There have been some thrilling games between these two sides in the past years, with the two-leg semi-final clashes back in 2016 evidence of the type of entertaining football these sides can produce.

Both teams come into this match off the back of late goals which rescued points. In Maitland’s case, it was an Alex Read goal in the 89^th minute which secured their fourth win of the season.

They lead 2-0 before allowing Hamilton back in to score twice and level things up, but it’s the first time they’ve surrendered a lead so far this season.

That win means Maitland also boasts a near perfect home record this season (the only blip a 1-all draw with Valentine), which will be tested this weekend.

Maitland did go down midweek in the FFA Cup, losing 2-0 to a near full-strength Lakes side. There may be some tired legs on Sunday, but coach Michael Bolch did rest a number of players in the Wednesday night game.

While the Magpies’ home record is good, Edgeworth’s away record is nearly as good with two wins and a single defeat in three matches on the road this season.

The move to a 4-4-2 against Charlestown last weekend was an interesting one, prompted perhaps by a desire from coach Damien Zane to have Jamie Byrnes and the returning Daniel McBreen work together.

So strong was their squad last weekend, talented youngsters Tyson Jackson and Adam Cawley were pushed to the bench. With Aaron McLoughlin on the mend also, they have some tremendous depth and will look to take advantage of that this weekend.

The big signing news for Edgeworth during the week was former Central Coast Mariner Josh Rose has joined. The defender retired from A-League football just last month, and coach Damien Zane expects him to have an ‘immediate impact’. His signing and McLoughlin’s return will give Edgeworth improved depth throughout their defence.

Damien Zane used Wednesday night’s FFA Cup clash against Northern League One outfit Singleton as an opportunity to try new combinations, and they appear to have worked as they emerged 4-0 victors. Daniel McBreen was dangerous, involved in a number of goals on the night.

What the coaches said:

Damien Zane (Edgeworth)

“Maitland is always a place where you need to compete and you have to defend well, and make sure you compete every loose ball, the pitch there looks good so hopefully with no wind, we can play a bit of football. They’re a very competitive team and have some quality up front, so a good defensive performance is probably going to be key.

“We used Wednesday night to get some more game time into guys who were behind, Dylan Holz is back from injury and Aaron McLoughlin got sixty minutes so in that sense it was good. Jett White is back (from loan to Weston) and did quite well, and Macca (Daniel McBreen) was able to get another run under his belt.

“Rose in and McLoughlin back gives us the option of moving guys like Pat Wheeler and Dom Bizzarri into the midfield, so it just opens up heaps of options… with these cup games, a couple of teams have picked up an injury or two but we’ve had a good cup run as well as the league every year and if you don’t have a squad that’s deep enough, you just can’t do it.”

Broadmeadow Magic has the bye

source: northernnswfootball.com.au

Full time at Kahibah Sportsground with the Hamilton Olympic running out 5-1 winners and qualifying for round 5 of the FFA Cup

Goal scorers: Jake McGuinness 2, Rhys Cooper 2, Sean Pratt 1

Source: Tom Tsamouras

Hamilton Olympic’s campaign kicks off this Thursday night away to Kahibah Football Club.

Kick off is 7pm at Kahibah Sportsground.

Source: Tom Tsamouras

Rhys Cooper, scorer of the 2nd Olympic goal

Maitland Magpies 3 (Thornton 42’, Thompson 64’, Read 89’) def. Hamilton Olympic 2 (Pettit 66’, Cooper 75’)
Sunday 29^th April, 2:30 pm at Cooks Square Park

A valiant Hamilton fightback from two goals down wasn’t enough to another one of Alex Read’s last-gasp goal’s that snatched all three points for the Magpies.

It was a different defender who opened the scoring, with Liam Thornton seizing on a loose ball in the area after a corner and firing home in the 42^nd minute.

The home side doubled their advantage after half-time, in a move started from a Matt Trott goal kick. The ball found its way out to Ryan Clarke, who set off down the line and managed to square it to a reaching James Thompson. He turned home and made it 2-0.

Just two minutes later, Hamilton was back in with a shout. Jarryd Sutherland beat his man and managed to dink a nice little chip across the face of the goal, which was headed in by Scott Pettit.

They levelled things nearly ten minutes later. Pettit started the move down the right-hand side and sent the ball in, which was helped on by Jake McGuinness and finished by Rhys Cooper across Trott to make the score 2-all.

Hamilton thought they’d done enough to secure their fifth point at the season, but Alex Read would have the final say.

The centre-back charged forward and got on the end of an Andrew Swan cross, and fired home a thundering volley to send the Magpies into third on the ladder.

U/20s: 2-2
U/18s Olympic won 5-1

NPL Youth
Olympic vs Charlestown

Under 16s drew 2-2
Under 15s Olympic won 7-1
Under 14s Olympic won 2-1
Under 13s Olympic won 8-0

Community Juniors
Under 16A Olympic 2-3 Adamstown
Under 14A Olympic 5-5 Magic
Under 13A Olympic 4-1 Magic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=Zzw_6_I6NBk

Weston Bears 1 (Burtson 50’) def. by Adamstown Rosebud 2 (Berlin 28’, Heydon 39’)
Saturday 28^th April, 2:30 pm at Rockwell Automation Park

Each side would have come into this one confident of taking three points from the other, with Adamstown on the hunt for their first win of the season.

In the end, it was the visitors who managed to edge out Weston and propel themselves out of the last spot with their first three points of the season.

Rosebud scored the opening goal just prior to the half-hour mark after Turki Alwesaidy seized on a slip from Weston midfielder Max Foster.

He played a deft little ball through the line to Chris Berlin, who caught Kane Runge wrong-footed and put the visitors ahead.

Alwesaidy had a big hand in the next goal again, which put Adamstown two ahead. He received a long ball over the top from Judd Duncan and set on his way toward the goal.

His square up to Connor Heydon wasn’t met with the most convincing of touches, which sent everyone the wrong way as the ball dribbled into the far corner and made the score 2-0.

Just four minutes into the second half, Weston had one back. A ball in from the right-hand side was met by Jackson Burtson, whose side-footed volley was a good one and whistled into the back of the net recording his fourth goal of the year.

Weston lost a man in the 60^th minute after a strong challenge from Oliver Davies caught Regan Lundy. He went down writhing in pain and was eventually taken away in an ambulance with a serious leg injury.

The Bears had a penalty shout waved away in the 77^th minute after a Tega Marcus cross appeared to strike the arm of Ben Higgins, and shortly after Adamstown’s Harrison Frendo was stretched off after a strong coming together with Max Foster.

Adamstown had a chance to put the game to bed when in the 82^nd minute, Berlin was 1 on 1 with Kane Runge but couldn’t turn home. On the follow-up, Cooper Buswell managed to stand in goal and keep out Connor Heydon.

Weston peppered the home goal with shots in the closing ten minutes. Marcus had the best chance in the 95^th minute but was prevented by an onrushing Benn Kelly, but in the end, it was Adamstown who claimed their first win of the season.

Broadmeadow Magic 2 (Carrol 5’, Fajkovic 14’) def. Valentine Phoenix 0
Saturday 28^th April, 7 pm at Magic Park

Broadmeadow was made to fight, and fight hard in what was captain Josh Piddington’s 300^th first grade game in Magic colours.

Despite playing almost half of the match a man down, they managed to edge out Valentine and jump into second on the ladder.

Cody Carrol got the goals started in the fifth minute, with a stunning free kick for the second week running. His effort from just outside the area left Valentine keeper Perry Budden stranded and put the home side ahead 1-0.

A thundering strike from Dino Fajkovic shortly after doubled Magic’s advantage. He received the ball on the edge of the area and fired toward goal, the power behind the shot giving Budden little time to react as the ball rippled in the back of the net.

An off-the-ball incident in the 44^th minute would put Broadmeadow firmly on the back foot, as Fajkovic took exception to Zac Sneddon and lashed out. After some consultation with the linesman, Fajkovic was shown a red card.

Valentine started the second half brightly, with much of the possession in the attacking half without anything to show for it. It was a trend which continued throughout the half, and they were almost down by three in the 71^st minute when a square ball was just out of the reach of Magic’s John Majurovski.

Joel Wood had an absolutely golden chance for Valentine in the 86^th minute, free at the back post after a corner but only able to turn his shot into the arms of Paul Bitz.

Phoenix’s Wilson Edwards put a header over the bar in the 95^th minute, but it would have proved consolation only as the whistle blew for Magic’s fourth win of the season seconds later.

Newcastle Jets Youth 5 (Thurgate 9’, Tipaldo 58’, Harrison 64’, 90’, OG 66’) def. Lake Macquarie City 3 (Walker 7’, 56’)
Sunday 29^th April, 2:30 pm at Macquarie Field

It was a match in which Lakes actually lead twice, and the scores were locked at 1-all when the two sides went to the sheds at half-time.

An incredible second half seen six goals scored, and Jets Youth running away with their third win of the year.

It was Sam Walker who opened the scoring, and he did it in incredible fashion. His goal came directly from the corner and had his side ahead in just the seventh minute.

Within minutes the Jets Youth were level. A deft little one-two between Angus Thurgate and Cai Tipaldo saw the former fire on goal and beat Kye Abrahams to level things at 1-all.

It was an end-to-end match, with both keepers kept on their toes by relentless attacks from both sides.

It took until the second half for another goal however and it came from Lakes’ striker Walker again, who was perfectly placed to seize on a loose ball in the box and fire home.

Once again though, their lead only lasted two minutes. Abrahams came for a ball out wide but wasn’t able to collect, and this time Thurgate turned provider and set up Tipaldo for a precise finish into the top corner to make it 2-all.

Kent Harrison was perfectly placed soon after to put Jets Youth into the lead for the first time. A ball in from Josh Cairelli wasn’t dealt with by Abrahams and fell nicely for Harrison to make the score 3-2.

Things got worse for Lakes just two minutes later, after a Kaleb Cox’s shot was deflected in by a Lakes defender to make the score 4-2.

In what was already a tit-for-tat battle, Lakes nearly had one back after another two minutes when Morgan Okeno was through on goal but had his shot deflected wide for a corner.

The game was put to bed in the 90^th minute after Abrahams came for another ball and failed to collect. He was rounded by Kent Harrison, who finished well for his second of the afternoon and the Jets’ fifth.

Walker would turn provider soon after this and provided Mitch Hunter with a good pass which allowed his volley to sizzle into the top of the net. It would prove only a consolation as Jets Youth emerged 5-3 victors.

Edgeworth Eagles 1 (McBreen 81’) drew Charlestown City Blues 1 (McNaughton 76’)
Sunday 29^th April, 2:30 pm at Jack McLaughlan Oval

Looking to knock the Eagles off their perch, Charlestown came to Jack McLaughlan Oval on Sunday afternoon in search of a win which would have put them five points ahead of the pack.

Open at times, tight at times, and entertaining at all times is exactly how this one went as two of the league’s best fought it out and left it late to disturb the back of the net.

It was Edgeworth who perhaps started the better of the two sides, and a Dylan Holz shot from distance in the 22^nd minute forced a low save out of Danny Ireland in the Blues goal.

Their best effort of the half came just a minute later when Liam Spurway set Daniel McBreen off. His first-time cross found Jamie Byrnes, with the striker unable to beat Ireland at the near post.

Charlestown had the best of their chances shortly after half-time, as they edged possession and position but were unable to get free on goal and test Nate Cavaliere in a meaningful manner.

Edgeworth thought they’d made the breakthrough in the 68^th minute when a strong run from Daniel McBreen helped the ball find it’s way out to Josh Evans.

His cross found Dom Bizzari, whose miscued shot was turned in by Jamie Byrnes. However, Byrnes was adjudged to be offside.

It was the visitors who’d find the first goal of the afternoon in the 76^th minute. A ball from the deep found the head of Riley McNaughton, whose attempt was palmed onto the bar by Cavaliere. The rebound found McNaughton again, and this time there was nothing the Edgy ‘keeper could do as he fired home to put Charlestown ahead.

Their lead didn’t last long though, as the Late Show starring Daniel McBreen came through once again. In a move started out wide by substitute Tyson Jackson, the ball through to Adam Cawley was squared to McBreen who glanced his shot into the far post to level the scores.

1-all was how this one would finish, and it leaves Charlestown ahead by three points at the top of the ladder. Hot on their tails are Magic, Edgeworth and Maitland – all on 13 points.

source: northernnswfootball.com.au