Urunga FC won the Community Plate for the second time in the club’s history after they defeated Lake Cathie FC 1-0 in the final at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Sunday night.
The two sides could not be separated in the first half as they both came out firing for their final match of the weekend.
An end-to-end contest with strong backlines from both teams meant the sides went into half-time locked at 0-0.
Urunga finally broke the deadlock in the 31st minute with a superb effort from Juniper Doye.
A pass from captain Breanna Martin found Doye in the middle of the park before a one two pass with Ellouise Brown sent the ball down the right of the park.
Doye charged down the field, beating Lake Cathie defenders and launched the ball from the right of the goal, under goalkeeper Finlay Harry and into the bottom left corner.
Lake Cathie were not going down without a fight and pushed for an equaliser but strong Urunga defence continued to deny them.
The score would remain 1-0 when the final whistle blew, with Urunga walking away with the title of Community Plate champions.
Urunga coach Trevor Martin was thrilled for his side to win for the second time in the club’s history.
“It’s always great to win, any tournament is good to win,” Martin said.
“It’s really important for us to see the standard that we are at compared to the stronger clubs, so it gives us that opportunity and to come out and win it is even better.
“We appreciate the opportunity to come out and compete in such a good tournament.”
In the Women’s State Cup final, Charlestown Azzurri and Maitland FC went head-to-head for the fourth time this season as they challenged for the third piece of silverware.
It was a fiery contest from the first whistle as both sides came out searching for the title of Women’s State Cup champion.
The two sides could not break the deadlock before the match was abandoned due to player injury.
Azzurri captain Jayna Frazer went down in the 41st minute with a knee injury after a challenge for the ball against Maitland FC’s Paige Kingston-Hogg.
The match was abandoned in the 50th minute, with Northern NSW Football to work with the clubs with further match details to be confirmed later this week.
NNSWF General Manager Football Operations Liam Bentley was thrilled with the overall tournament and wished Fraser a fast recovery.
“The tournament overall was a great success and the level of football played across the weekend showcased the talented footballers across northern NSW,” Bentley said.
“It was fantastic to see two regional teams take part in the Community Plate final after they battled it out last weekend in the Regional Super League.
“We send Charlestown Azzurri’s Jayna Fraser all the best and hope for a speedy recovery.”
