Match of the Round
Belmont Swansea United 4-0 Singleton Strikers
Reigning champions Belmont Swansea are back with a vengeance after thumping league leaders Singleton Strikers 4-0 on Saturday.
After a sluggish start to the season with only one win from five matches, BelSwans blew the competition wide open with an emphatic victory against the previously undefeated Strikers at Blacksmiths Oval.
It seemed like a baptism of fire for new Belswans coach Scott Harvey after Singleton scored nine the previous week.
"We started strongly as we have in all our games this year and we adapted quickly to changes we made in our system of play," Harvey said.
"We capitalised on some positive football with a great headed finish by Blayke Reeves off a well delivered set piece by Cam Lodge.
"We dealt with some pressure through the middle of the first half but weathered it with good resilience which we have lacked in earlier games.
"We caught them with a great transition forward with Jack Rush putting Blayke in behind them and he put a great finish away. He is getting better each game he plays in first grade.”
After scoring two goals in the first half, BelSwans scored two more unanswered goals in the second half.
"Second half we took advantage of our first corner with Reece Newton heading our third home,” Harvey said.
"We controlled the second half on a heavy pitch and put them away with a great 20-yard left footed strike into top left corner by Mark Davis later in the game.
"Keeping a clean sheet was our number one goal today and the team executed this really well. Consistency is vital now after getting back on track today.”
After a heavy workload of football, Singleton Strikers coach Mick Jarvis and his players owned the result and are moving on.
"Terrible conditions, torrential rain at Blacksmiths didn't allow for good football to be played," Jarvis said.
"The players agree, we were below our own standard we've set for ourselves. Three games in seven days didn't help, the lads looked flat.
"They've owned it and we'll get back to it this week.”
The result means Singleton hang onto top position on the table by one point as the chasing pack gain ground.
Belmont Swansea United take on Mayfield United SFC in the Australia Cup on Tuesday night.
Thornton Redbacks FC 3-0 West Wallsend SFC
The Thornton Redbacks recorded back-to-back wins with a 3-0 victory over West Wallsend at Thornton Park on Sunday.
Redbacks coach Gary Wand was pleased with the building of momentum.
"Very even first half with both teams having some chances. We missed a couple of one v ones with the Westy keeper doing well and they hit the post.
"We scored early in the second half from a curling shot from midfielder Lachlan Yates then Liam Hardy scored after a great ball from Sam Rossi.
"Substitute Hayden Watson got our third from a thunderous strike from outside the box.
"A very good team effort, our bench was great for us today.”
After conceding seven goals in the first two rounds, it has been a remarkable transformation for the Redbacks who have been getting better every week.
HIT106.9 Northern League One results have been hard to predict as this week's round six fixtures saw the bottom four teams all collecting three points and this could be the tightest competition in its history.
Wallsend FC 3-1 South Cardiff FC
'Oh when the reds go marching in' was chanted loud and proud after Wallsend's stunning 3-1 victory over South Cardiff on Sunday.
It was a dream debut from 17-year-old Will Baker who opened the scoring for Wallsend at The Gardens and provided the assist for the second goal.
After last week's 7-0 loss to Kahibah it was back to the drawing board for Wallsend coach Michael Gatt, who got the response he asked for.
"It was a great win," Gatt said.
"As for the games over the last two weeks we went back to basics at training during the week and it paid off.
"We scored after 15 minutes through the determination of Will Baker who scored.
"Second goal was scored by Matt Williams and the third was a penalty scored by Lucas Egge.
"It was a fiery contest as all Gallagher Shield games are but the lads work rate on and off the ball was really good.
"And to nearly keep a clean sheet after conceding 22 goals in four games was most pleasing but again it's a starting point, we now need to be consistent.
"And backing up less than 24 hours for our Australia Cup game isn't ideal but we will make it happen.”
Wallsend take on Zone League One club Bolwarra Lorn JSC in their Australia Cup third round clash at Cooks Square Park on Monday night, giving the Red Devils just over 24 hours the prepare.
South Cardiff coach Perry Mellon anticipated Wallsend's reaction but could not stop the rampant Red Devils.
"As predicted, Wallsend were fired up to turn around their recent form," Mellon said.
"Two poor defensive errors in the first half cost us the game. Very difficult to chase three goals against a team trying to defend the lead.
"Looking forward to bouncing back on Tuesday night and then against Cessnock on Easter Saturday," Mellon said.
South Cardiff face Zone Premier League club Westlakes Wildcats in the Australia Cup on Tuesday night.
Cessnock City FC 2-1 Kahibah FC
Goals from Curtis Johnston and Zac Kronholm wrapped up a 2-0 victory and three points for Cessnock City at Turner Park on Sunday afternoon.
The Hornets started the round at the foot of the table with Kahibah in third place.
But the table has been a poor predictor of results in a league where any team can beat anybody.
Hornets boss Brad Miles applauded his team's discipline that stopped high flying Kahibah in their tracks.
"I thought we put in a really good, disciplined effort today, stuck to our game plan for 90 minutes and got the reward for that," Miles said.
"Kahibah are a really good team and hard to break down but we were able to score a couple today and come away with the points. It was a pleasing result.”
Kahibah responded with a goal from Riley Ferguson but that was not enough as coach Mat Moncrieff reflected on missed opportunities.
"We have no excuses. We had enough chances to put the game to bed before they scored their first goal," Moncrieff said.
"They punished us for a few mistakes and we weren't good enough to take our chances.
"Their keeper was very good today.
"A typical long injury list out of the trip to Cessnock but also had plenty unavailable today so we will have plenty of changes in our squads for our Thursday night games versus Toronto.”
Toronto Awaba FC had the bye