Lambton Jaffas and Edgeworth FC were eliminated from the Australia Cup national round of 32 on Tuesday night as the NPL Men’s NNSW clubs suffered 4-1 defeats.
Reigning NPLM NNSW premiers and champions Lambton welcomed A-League Men’s powerhouse Melbourne Victory to Jack McLaughlan Oval, while Edgeworth made the long trip west to face Olympic Kingsway in Perth.
At Jack McLaughlan Oval, Lambton had a couple of half chances early when they had a penalty appeal waved away before Victory goalkeeper Jack Duncan slipped under pressure, with Jaffas unable to take advantage.
Jaffas goalkeeper Ben Kennedy was then called into action as he made a pair of saves, the second a stunning effort to his left to thwart Bruno Fornaroli.
But Fornaroli would give Melbourne the lead on eight minutes after Riley McNaughton was adjudged to have brought down Kasey Bos with a challenge in the penalty area.
Kennedy saved Fornaroli’s initial effort, only for the striker to tap home the rebound.
Victory doubled its advantage just before the half hour mark when 17-year-old debutant Alex Lee scored his first professional goal with a delightful dink over an advancing Kennedy.
But Lambton showed great resilience to halve the deficit nine minutes before half-time through a stunning strike from Pat Bond.
Victory half cleared a Matthew Buettner cross with Bond using one touch to control the ball and a second to unleash a powerful volley which gave Duncan little chance.
Kennedy made another fantastic save a minute later, again denying Fornaroli, before Victory restored its two-goal advantage in stoppage time.
The 2024 A-League Men’s grand finalists, playing its first competitive match under coach Patrick Kisnorbo, produced a slick counterattack which Nishan Velupillay finished off via a fortunate deflection off McNaughton which left Kennedy stranded.
Velupillay then ended the match as a contest five minutes into the second half with his second, this time firing a fine strike past Kennedy from outside the penalty area.
Bond said while Lambton were disappointed with the result the match had still been a positive experience.
“It was good fun. [A] good experience I think. [We] came out, tried to get result. [It was] good fun in the end,” Bond said.
“I thought the effort was there more than the last couple of weeks. Everyone was fired up for the game to try and prove a point. We showed up which was good.
“[The ball] just popped out to me. Took a touch and kind of thought may as well have a crack. Probably the best volley I’ve ever hit in my life.”
At Kingsway Reserve, Edgworth took an early lead through Flynn Goodman after Seth Clark’s cross evaded everyone, allowing Goodman to finish tidily at the back post.
The hosts levelled through Joe Hobson nine minutes before the break following a goalmouth scramble.
The game turned though when Edgeworth defender Chris Fayers was sent off early in the second half after being shown a second yellow card following a lunging tackle. Aaron Oppendisano scored an unfortunate own goal moments later to hand Olympic Kingsway the lead.
Mitchell Oxborrow then scored a third 10 minutes from full-time to seal the result before Joe Knowles added a fourth two minutes later.
NNSWF General Manager Football Operations Liam Bentley congratulated Lambton and Edgeworth on reaching the national round of 32.
“Obviously the results would not have been what either club wanted. But we’re extremely proud of the way Edgeworth and Lambton represented themselves, our NPL Men’s NNSW competition and northern NSW on the national stage,” Bentley said.
“Edgeworth and Lambton deserved the chance to showcase our game to the rest of the country and we wish them all the very best for the rest of their seasons.”
