Newcastle Jets ended Cooks Hill United’s memorable Australia Cup run with a 5-0 victory in their round of 16 clash on Wednesday night.
A venue-record crowd of 4,256 made their way to No.2 Sportsground to witness NPL Men’s NNSW club Cooks Hill United host northern NSW’s national league representatives.
Spectators saw a tight opening 20 minutes before the Jets took the lead in fortunate circumstances.
Jets left back Daniel Wilmering’s cross floated over the head of Cooks Hill goalkeeper Daniel Eisenhauer and into the top corner to give the A-League Men’s club a 1-0 advantage.
Both sides did well to navigate the poor surface to produce an entertaining and mostly even contest in the first half.
But the Jets were able to give themselves some breathing space when they doubled their lead in the 41st minute.
Max Burgess played a sublime through pass for Xavier Bertoncello, with the young striker racing clear before producing a calm finish past Eisenhauer.
Cooks Hill coach Chris Zoricich turned to his bench at half-time and introduced round of 32 hero Xavier Williams at the break.
But it was the Jets who all but sealed the result seven minutes into the second half when Kota Mizunuma produced a classy first touch following a difficult bounce after being played in on goal, with the Japanese import’s clinical finish giving the Jets a 3-0 lead.
It was 4-0 five minutes later when Ben Gibson prodded home, before Wilmering added his second and the Jets’ fifth five minutes from full-time with a delightful curling effort from distance.
The win saw the Jets reach the quarter-finals of the Australia Cup for just the second time in the club’s history, with Newcastle to host 2022 and 2024 Australia Cup winners Macarthur FC in the last eight.
The defeat for Cooks Hill brought an end to their memorable 2025 season and their incredible Australia Cup run, where they became just the third NPL Men’s NNSW club to reach the round of 16 since the competition’s inception in 2014.
Edgeworth qualified for the round of 16 in 2016 and 2019, while Broadmeadow Magic reached the same stage of the competition in 2018.
It was an outstanding achievement for Cooks Hill, who were only promoted to NPL Men’s NNSW in 2022. The match capped a historic season for Cooks Hill, who also won the Northern NSW Men’s State Cup Final last month when they defeated Weston Bears on penalties.
