Match of the Round
Adamstown Rosebud JFC 0-1 Lake Macquarie City FC
Adamstown Rosebud JFC coach Martin Slade said his side did not create enough opportunities in front of goal after falling 1-0 to Lake Macquarie City FC at Adamstown Oval on Sunday afternoon.
As both sides looked to settle into the match, it was Lake Macquarie City that did so first.
A deflection off the heel of Adamstown's Evie Horgan fell into the path of Lakes' Kiera Bainsfair, who calmly slotted the ball underneath goalkeeper Olivia Sneddon in the ninth minute.
Adamstown looked for an immediate response in the 11th minute after a well-worked move saw Sophia Laurie cut the ball back from the byline, but with no teammate able to apply the finishing touch, goalkeeper Morgan Ross calmly collected it.
The remainder of the first half became a midfield battle and, with neither side able to create another breakthrough, Lakes took a 1-0 lead into the break.
The Buds came out strongly in the second half as a through ball from Horgan found Tanya Jones, who charged towards goal before seeing her effort cannon off the post in the 54th minute.
Lakes' Sunny Mitchell had a chance of her own in the 62nd minute, but her strike from the top of the penalty area drifted wide.
The Roosters' newfound momentum produced another opportunity just a minute later after Sneddon fumbled the wet ball, with it finding Holly Vitnell who unleashed a shot of her own, but the Adamstown goalkeeper reacted brilliantly to deny her.
Adamstown dominated possession for large periods of the latter stages of the second half but was unable to create enough clear-cut chances to find an equaliser.
Lakes had one final opportunity deep into stoppage time, but another superb save from Sneddon ensured the visitors secured a 1-0 victory.
"It's a hard one to take. I think there wasn't a lot in it overall," Slade said.
"One-nil always suggests that it could go 50/50 and unfortunately we didn't convert or create as many chances as we have done previously. I think that was the main problem."
Slade acknowledged the midfield battle but believed both sides largely cancelled each other out.
"It was an arm wrestle in midfield. It was like two bald blokes arguing over a comb, so that made it really difficult," Slade said.
"It was just one of those games where everybody wanted to try and play and do all the right things, and we tried, but ultimately it just got stuck in a midfield battle.
"They scored and hung on, but I don't think we created enough to win or even that they overly threatened either, to be honest.
"Everything nullified each other."
Lake Macquarie City assistant coach Mick Hugo acknowledged his side had to grind out the result but was pleased to see the Roosters secure all three points.
"The performance was one that we had to grind out. It was a true 90-minute football match where the girls had to work hard," Hugo said.
"Adamstown played some really good football. They came at us early on and again at the end, but the one goal early on was enough.
"The conditions didn't favour either team but, at the end of the day, three points is three points."
Both sides will now have the weekend off for the scheduled washout weekend before returning on Friday 10 July for the Women's State Cup.
New Lambton FC 2-1 Maitland FC
Maitland FC head coach Ben Horgan said his side needed to improve both its finishing and game management after falling 2-1 to New Lambton FC at Alder Park on Saturday, suffering their first defeat of the season.
New Lambton came out firing from the opening whistle, determined to rewrite the story after losing the previous two meetings between the sides.
Their early pressure paid off in the 17th minute when Brianna Trappett launched a ball forward from halfway to Lauren Allan, who burst through the middle.
Allan beat two defenders before finding herself one-on-one with goalkeeper Annabella Thornton, calmly slotting the ball home to give New Lambton a 1-0 lead.
The two sides continued to trade chances for the remainder of the first half, and Maitland looked set to equalise in the 44th minute when a perfectly timed through ball found Georgia Amess.
But Janali Haynes produced a diving save from a tight angle to preserve New Lambton's advantage heading into the break.
Despite Maitland finishing the half strongly, New Lambton refused to take a step backwards.
A quality pass from Tara Andrews found Allan as she raced alongside Charlotte O'Connor before lifting the ball over the advancing Thornton from the top of the penalty area in the 50th minute to double the visitors' lead.
The Magpies dominated possession throughout the second half but struggled to make the most of it until the 85th minute.
Dagg flicked the ball into the path of Amess, who returned the pass before Dagg slotted home into the bottom-left corner to reduce the deficit.
Despite Maitland's late push, the Magpies were unable to find an equaliser and were handed their first loss of the season.
"We've got to sharpen up that finishing and the work in the final third," Horgan said.
"But also, we've got to manage games better defensively, so we don't get caught throwing too many players forward and not being prepared at the back for the counterattack, especially when you've got that quality New Lambton have in that part of the pitch.
"We've got to be a lot more aware, and all set up to deal with that.
"In a positive sense, after going behind we tried to take control of the game and we definitely dominated in terms of field position, if not quality of chances. But the response from the players was good, just not good enough on the night."
While Horgan said his side needed to be more clinical in front of goal, he also said the quality of its delivery and decision-making needed to improve.
"It's not just the finishing, it was the quality of delivery, and it was some of the decision making," Horgan said.
"We've just got to be better than that against good teams."
Both sides will now have a scheduled weekend off before returning to action in the Women's State Cup, where Maitland will look to defend their title.
Newcastle Olympic v Charlestown Azzurri
This match was postponed due to wet weather conditions.
Bye - Broadmeadow Magic