Grand Final
Broadmeadow Magic FC v Lambton Jaffas FC
Darling Street Oval, Sunday 2pm
Broadmeadow Magic may be days away from playing for a second premiership/championship double in as many years, but coach Jim Cresnar says grand final opponents Lambton Jaffas are the favourites heading into Sunday’s big dance at Darling Street Oval.
Magic are amid a dynasty with a young and talented playing group that will line up for their third decider in as many years this weekend and will go on to represent Northern NSW Football at the Australian Championship in October.
While last year’s premiership was built on blistering attack as Cresnar’s men netted 80 goals in 22 matches during the regular season, this year’s premiership and championship push has been built on defence.
Magic have conceded just 18 goals in 23 league matches in 2025 and their improvement across the season has been intriguing.
After conceding 12 goals in their first 11 games and only keeping three clean sheets in that period, they have conceded just six goals in the 12 matches since while keeping seven clean sheets.
Cresnar said that his men were ready to create a piece of history for themselves this Sunday as they look to become the first team to win back-to-back doubles since Edgeworth Eagles did it in 2015 and 2016, but he understands they will have to rise to the occasion against the in-form team of the competition.
“Grand final week is exciting for the club and more importantly for the players. It’s good to be in that environment and I’ve told the boys to make sure they enjoy this week,” Cresnar said.
“Obviously the boys realise that we’ll be part of the Australian Championship later in the year, but they are really focused on the game on Sunday. We had a really good session on (Tuesday) night.
“Lambton over the last several weeks have been the best team in the league and they’ve done really well. They’ve got some good, experienced players, and we’ve never really beaten them in the last two years.
“I don’t think we’re the favourites this year. They definitely are with the form they’ve been in. They’re the team to beat in the grand final.
“Their backline is very good, especially with the experience of Topor (Nikolai Topor-Stanley) and others, they have got a strong midfield with the likes of Pat Bond, and they are very aggressive up top as well.
“I think the key for us is adapting to the physical battle. I think that if we can win that, it should be a good game.”
For both teams, their lead-ins to grand final day have been polar opposites.
While Broadmeadow have only played one match in the month leading up to the decider, which was a 2-0 major semi-final win over Weston Bears at home, Lambton have had the chance to build strong momentum after being forced to knock off fellow finals contestants Maitland FC, Edgeworth Eagles and Weston Bears during the first three weeks of the series.
Cresnar predicted that the rest would benefit his men and they would still be sharp come gameday, while Lambton’s coach David Tanchevski believes his side’s run will have them battle-hardened for the big dance.
“It’s excellent to be part of another grand final,” Tanchevski said.
“It’s a big achievement, considering where we were earlier in the season.
“We’re nine or 10 games unbeaten now, and we knew that for us to get into the grand final, we needed to beat three of the top five teams in a row. It was always going to be a tough achievement, but we’ve done it, and I don’t feel like there’s any pressure on us at all now.
“If we don’t win, well I don’t think anybody expects us to, and if we do win, it’s an amazing story.
“We’ve played Magic once for silverware this year and won it (the Charity Shield back in February), but they’ve beaten us twice during the regular season. It would be ironic now that we’re playing for silverware again if we won.
“It’s been an amazing run for us either way. I thought last time we played Magic actually, when we were 1-0 up and copped two late, poor goals to lose that game, that’s when I started to see the positive signs for us. We were unlucky to lose that game.
“We started to kick on a bit since then.
“I know we’re on a 10-game unbeaten run, but we’ve lost seven games this year and they’ve only lost one. Their unbeaten streak is something like 22 games, so they definitely go in as favourites this weekend.
“We’re a little bit light on at the moment after losing Bailey Newton, who has gone back overseas, and Jimmy Oates (hamstring injury), but we have some good youth on the bench and I think we’re in a good spot coming into the grand final."
While Broadmeadow are playing to match Edgeworth’s 2015/16 double/double achievement, the Jaffas are playing to go one better than the Eagles in terms of championships.
Edgeworth and Lambton have both won four grand finals each in the NPL era since 2014, and David Tanchevski’s men are now determined to ensure they go above and beyond everyone else as they look to add a fifth this weekend.
Sunday’s grand final will be filled with entertaining individual battles, one of which will see Broadmeadow’s James Cresnar and Lambton’s Pat Bond go toe-to-toe in the midfield.
Another interesting battle will be whether Magic’s fullbacks Will Ingram and Sam Kamper or Jaffas’ fullbacks Tom Waller and Sam Donnellan have the most success getting up the field down their respective flanks.
But the key battle in this one will be how Magic’s youthful and explosive frontline of Jarred Baker, Cody Nancarrow and Ezra Palombini can impose their pace and creativity against the discipline and leadership of Lambton’s seasoned defensive trio of goalkeeper Ben Kennedy and centre backs Riley McNaughton and Nikolai Topor-Stanley.
With so many key matchups across the park, the stage is perfectly set for a thrilling showdown at Darling Street Oval.
Find all the match day information HERE.
In reserve grade, Maitland FC will take on Cooks Hill United for the championship. The match kicks off at 11am.
