Men’s State Cup Final
Cooks Hill United 0(4)-0(3) Weston Bears
Cooks Hill United boss Chris Zoricich described this week as one of the best in his club’s history after they were crowned Northern NSW Football’s 2025 Men’s State Cup champions on Saturday evening.
Just three days after they had won their way through to the Australia Cup round of 16 with a 3-2 round of 32 win over Adelaide Croatia in South Australia, Zoricich’s men pushed Weston Bears until the final seconds of a 0-0 draw before outscoring their opponents 4-3 in the penalty shootout.
Goalkeeper Daniel Eisenhauer was the hero following an impressive performance between the sticks throughout the afternoon at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility.
Both sides scored their first three penalties before Eisenhauer denied Musa Kamara and Chris Hurley, both times diving to his left to keep the ball out of the net and earn his team the cup.
Zoricich could not have been prouder of his players, saying moments after they raised the trophy that they continued to raise the bar each week.
“It was an absolutely huge effort from the boys and of course Weston as well. There were some very tired bodies out there in both teams,” Zoricich said.
“I don’t think the game was pretty as a spectacle but our boys just keep doing it for me. I keep asking them to keep striving to be better and they have proven this week that if they put the hard yards in, they will get the rewards. I’m just so happy for them.
“I think this week has to be the biggest in Cooks Hill’s history in regards to what we’ve achieved. I keep saying to the boys, I know from personal experience that if you put the hard yards in, you’ll eventually get rewards somewhere down the line and we’ve just been fortunate enough that it’s all come in the one week.
“There are still things to play for though. We still have the [Australia Cup] round of 16 to look forward to and we are still trying to get into the play-offs in the league, which for me would be a huge achievement as a club. As a coach, that’s where I want to get to and hopefully the energy we’ll have from winning this will help us achieve that.”
After what was a cagey first half, during which Weston created the better of the chances, the match started to open up in the second half as both teams began to tire and substitutes came off the bench to add some spark.
Cooks Hill began to create chances to go ahead from the seventh minute of the second half when Zach Waddell curled in a cross from the right that picked out Joel Clissold at the back stick but he could not rise high enough and his header sailed over the crossbar.
Weston had their own opportunities to open the scoring, notably on the hour mark when Chris Hatfield got in behind. But Eisenhauer did well to save the one on one opportunity.
Both Eisenhauer and Gerard Roebuck in goal for Weston did well when called upon in the second half and both defences continued to rise to the occasion to keep their opponents out.
Cooks Hill’s Daniel Yaxley had the best chance of the contest in the 86th minute when he rose highest to meet a curling Kai Bradley freekick from the right but the midfielder put his header over the crossbar from six yards out.
His teammate Josh Benson almost netted a winner a few minutes later, just as the match ticked over into injury time, but Mana Iwasaki stood tall to block his shot from close range after Roebuck had parried a Jye Bailey strike and was stranded on the turf.
The final whistle sounded soon after as the contest finished 0-0 and a shootout was required, during which Hatfield, Burke Fahling and Dylan Burston nailed Weston’s first three penalties and Bradley, Benson and Zaik Luck put away Cooks Hill’s first three.
Eisenhauer then kept out Kamara before Bailey netted Cooks Hill’s fourth, which brought Hurley to the spot for the Bears. Weston’s skipper had produced a Herculean effort during the 90 minutes and was arguably best on ground but Eisenhauer again dived the right way to deny his shot as Cooks Hill were crowned champions.
Weston still took something away from the contest despite losing the shootout as the match doubled as the rescheduled round 14 league clash between the teams. Both teams earned a point, which meant Weston’s slim premiership hopes were dashed and Cooks Hill moved within three points of the top five.
“It’s a weird feeling having a draw and getting a point and then getting a cup for it,” Zoricich said.
“I haven’t quite processed that yet but I’m just so happy for the boys, especially with what I put them through.”
Both teams will be back in action on Wednesday night when they host their respective rescheduled round 12 contests. Cooks Hill will welcome Newcastle Olympic to Fearnley Dawes Athletics Field while Weston welcome Charlestown Azzurri to Rockwell Automation Park.
It was also a successful day for Croudace Bay United, with the Zone League Two club winning the 2025 Men's Community Plate Final after downing Northern Storm 2-0.
Harrison McLean gave the Crabs the lead on the stroke of half-time when he poked home following a scramble in the penalty area.
Tom Curran then sealed the result for Croudace Bay in the 89th minute as the Crabs continued their impressive season with their first piece of silverware.
