Newcastle Croatia v Wallsend FC
Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility 3, Saturday 2pm
Newcastle Croatia coach Joshua Popescu believes no team can come close to his side if they stick to their game plan as they welcome Wallsend FC to Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility in the first leg of the promotion/relegation play-off series on Saturday.
Croatia enter the series with plenty of confidence after defeating Wallsend 3-1 in the final round of HIT106.9 Northern League One last weekend, a result that ended the Red Devils’ hopes of claiming the premiership and automatic promotion.
The two sides will now meet for the second of three consecutive weeks, but the stakes have changed dramatically. Saturday’s clash will be the first leg of the promotion/relegation play-off series, before they meet again at Ladbrokes Gardens the following Sunday.
The winner on aggregate will then meet either NPL Men’s NNSW side Kahibah FC or HIT106.9 Northern League One side New Lambton FC in a one-off final at Hunter City Motor Group Stadium on Saturday 5 September with a place in the NPLM NNSW competition in 2027 on the line.
For Croatia the play-offs represent another opportunity to cap off an extraordinary rise through the NNSWF pyramid.
After being crowned Zone League Two premiers in 2024 and Zone League One premiers in 2025, Newcastle Croatia stepped up to HIT106.9 Northern League One this season and have now put themselves within touching distance of a third promotion in as many years.
But Popescu has no intention of changing the approach that has taken his side this far, despite facing the same opponent for the second time in seven days.
“We’re not going to change anything up. We’re just going out there to play our style of football,” Popescu said.
“We know that Croatia football is good football, and as long as we do that, I honestly don’t think anyone can come close to us.
“And if we do that throughout this series and if we get to that play-off final, I think we’re going to be a very hard team to beat.”
The Croatia coach expects a different Wallsend side on Saturday after the Red Devils saw their automatic promotion hopes disappear last weekend.
“They’re going to come out with a different sort of attitude, wanting to prove a point. They are one of the top teams and I suppose they’re going to be there to prove a point against us,” Popescu said.
“They knocked us off the first time, and we had a lot of players out that round, so last weekend they came up against a fresh, new-look squad.
“I suppose there’s more pressure on them than us, we’re just going in there to play our game.
“I think they’re going to come out and try to target our main players, which, that’s good luck to them.
“We’ve got a lot of experience in our squad, and I think by having that experience in these kinds of games that’s going to win us these play-offs.”
Wallsend will be a wounded side looking to gain the upper hand early after surrendering a 1-0 lead in the final round.
The Red Devils opened the scoring in the 13th minute but could not hold on, ultimately falling 3-1 and missing out on automatic promotion by a single point after finishing the season with 12 wins, four draws and two losses.
Despite the disappointment, their campaign has been a significant achievement for a club that was seconds away from relegation in 2025.
They showed just how dangerous they can be in attack when they dismantled West Wallsend SFC 7-0 in the second-last round, but they will need to rediscover that ruthlessness in front of goal if they are to take control of the play-off series.
That will be particularly important after Wallsend spent the final 20 minutes of last weekend’s match with a player advantage but could not find a way back into the contest.
With two more meetings against Croatia to come, Wallsend will have little time to dwell on last weekend’s result and must turn their frustration into a response when the sides meet again on Saturday.
New Lambton FC v Kahibah FC
Alder Park, Saturday 4pm
Kahibah FC coach Blair Newham wants his side to reset and build on the experience gained from their first season in the NPL Men's NNSW competition when they take on New Lambton FC at Alder Park in the first leg of the promotion/relegation play-off series on Saturday.
After earning promotion to the NPL Men’s NNSW competition in 2025, the Rams now have another chance to preserve their top-flight status after narrowly missing out on automatic safety.
Kahibah finished the season with six wins, two draws and 14 losses for 20 points, falling one point short of avoiding the promotion/relegation play-off series. That tally would have been enough to avoid the play-offs by five points had it been recorded in 2025.
Newham is hoping his side can reset and use what they learned from their time in the top-flight to their advantage against a New Lambton side they already defeated 3-2 in round four of the 2026 Hahn Australia Cup.
"We met last night and did a season review, pinpointed all the things that we did really well in our first year in the NPL, and then pinpointed a couple of areas for improvement and things to make sure that we were aware of going into the next few games," Newham said.
"Basically, we tried to reset everybody mentally, in the sense that the 2026 NPL season is done. We've now got an opportunity to play in a finals series to re-earn the right to be in the NPL again for 2027.
"We faced New Lambton in the [Hahn Australia] Cup this year also, which was a tough game. I know with JB's [coach John Bennis] experience and how he's got that team playing at the moment, that it should be a good football game, especially for the neutral.
"They've got some NPL experience with players in their team to lean on, but they'll be looking towards that little bit of experience for big games.
"I'm just hoping, and I'm pretty confident, that our experience and playing at that higher level for the year may be the difference in the tempo that our team's able to play at."
After facing New Lambton earlier in the year, Newham knows his side will need to be aggressive from the outset if they are to gain the upper hand before returning home for the second leg next week.
"Our game plan will just be as aggressive as possible from the get-go to ensure that New Lambton don't have time to settle into the game at all," Newham said.
"They've got some very handy players and, if they get given time and space to try and create things, they'll have opportunities.
"I expect both teams to have opportunities, and then I'm just relying on the quality that we've had with players like Billy Eick, Matt Homer, Dan Byrne and Jackson Burston, who's scored 12 goals this year.
"Hopefully players like that can have a good couple of matches and we can finish the chances we create because we've shown all year, we can create a lot of chances. Our percentage conversion just needs to improve."
New Lambton secured their place in the promotion/relegation play-off series after finishing fourth in the HIT106.9 Northern League One competition with 32 points from 10 wins, two draws and six losses.
The Golden Eagles were automatically relegated from the NPL Men's NNSW competition in 2025 after finishing the season with just seven points from one win, four draws and 17 losses.
Now they will aim to become the first side since promotion and relegation returned to return straight back to the top-flight following relegation.
The Golden Eagles will take confidence from their attacking form after a 4-3 win over Cessnock City Hornets in the final round of the HIT106.9 Northern League One competition.
But they will need to remain tight in defence after conceding twice in the opening 35 minutes against the Hornets before fighting back to claim the win.
Their attacking threat will give Kahibah plenty to consider, but New Lambton's defensive lapses could also provide the Rams with opportunities to exploit, particularly given Newham's focus on creating and finishing chances.