Broadmeadow Magic 3-2 Adelaide City FC
Broadmeadow Magic captain Jeremy Wilson believed an early goal set the tone for his side’s 3-2 win over Adelaide City FC on Friday night as they continued their unbeaten start to the 2026 Australian Championship campaign.
Magic started with immediate intent after coach Jim Cresnar urged his side to make a faster start to their round three clash.
The approach paid dividends in the 11th minute when Luis Lara Delgado beat two defenders before turning and playing a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Ezra Palombini.
Palombini burst past his defenders and struck a half-volley across goal and into the bottom left corner to give Magic the lead.
Delgado went close to adding a goal of his own in the 21st and 25th minutes before Will Ingram tested Adelaide goalkeeper John Hall.
Magic were unable to capitalise on their remaining chances before half-time but went into the break with a 1-0 lead.
Adelaide returned with greater attacking intent and forced an important save from Noah James just two minutes into the second half, with the Magic goalkeeper punching a rebounded shot away from danger while on the ground.
James continued to preserve his side’s lead when he tipped Bailey O'Neil’s effort over the crossbar.
Broadmeadow extended their advantage in the 73rd minute when Delgado rose highest to head home Jarred Baker’s corner at the far post.
Two minutes later, Bailey Wells made it 3-0 with a powerful low strike from outside the penalty area that found the bottom right corner.
But Adelaide refused to surrender and pulled one back in the 77th minute through Francesco Schimizzi before O'Neil capitalised on a goalmouth scramble in the 84th minute to reduce the deficit to 3-2.
Adelaide pushed for an equaliser in the dying stages but were denied by James as Magic held on for their first victory at Magic Park across their two Australian Championship campaigns.
Wilson said the early breakthrough had been crucial in establishing his side’s approach to the contest.
"I thought the boys started very strong today, we got that early goal which is always important. It sets the tone for the game," Wilson said.
"The game was a bit messy. I thought in stages it was pretty back and forth but I think we're sort of used to that coming out of the NPL NNSW league. It's very much like that and is very transition based. I think we dealt with that well.
"Second half we started to run away with it but we let our guard down a bit in the last 15 to 20 minutes.
"We let those two soft goals in and we had to rally in the last 10 minutes to come out with the win. We are used to doing that and sometimes we make it a bit hard for ourselves but we got there in the end so it's good."
Cresnar was delighted with his side’s strong opening and praised the creativity behind the first goal.
"It's an exciting time for Magic. The first 10 to 15 minutes I thought we really dominated, we created a lot of chances," Cresnar said.
"That goal was something different, you can't coach something like that but it was just creativity from Luis and Ezra. I talked about forward runs and that's what Ezra did. It was an exciting first 15 to 20 minutes.
"They [Adelaide] started getting back into the game and I thought the second half it was similar. They scored a goal and then that second goal from there was a bit disappointing from a corner.
"But overall we're top of the table, we're all excited. We still have three games to go and we've got to make sure we get an outcome from those as well."