Match of the Round
Broadmeadow Magic FC v New Lambton FC
Magic Park, Friday 8pm
Broadmeadow Magic coach Jim Cresnar is proud to be sitting at the top of the table but believes his men have much more to offer in the second half of the season as they prepare for a ‘danger game’ against New Lambton FC at Magic Park on Friday night.
Magic climbed above Edgeworth Eagles into first place on Tuesday night when they won a rescheduled round 10 clash against Valentine FC at Croudace Bay Complex.
Will Ingram opened the scoring in the 16th minute and James Cresnar made it 2-0 in the 57th, which was the way the score remained when the full-time whistle sounded.
That result has set up an intriguing first-versus-last battle against the Golden Eagles on Friday night, who gave Magic a scare in an eight-goal thriller back in round three in March.
Broadmeadow prevailed 5-3 that day, and their coach said they would need to be at their best against a hungry New Lambton outfit on Friday night.
“Last time we played New Lambton, they were the better team, so this is very much a danger game for us,” Cresnar said.
“I feel like it will be an extremely hard game for us. I never felt comfortable at all during the game last time we played them, and overall, I thought we were very lucky to get the result that day.
“I’d like to see us keep the ball more in certain areas of the field and better identify when we do go forward and when we don’t go forward.
“We’ve been travelling well this season but at times we haven’t been at our best. The pleasing thing is we’ve been getting results, but there is definitely more to come in terms of our performances.”
Cresnar was thrilled to finally get a league game in on Tuesday night after his team’s past five were washed out.
He was pleased with the way his men played in the 2-0 win and is expecting all his players to be ready for Friday night’s clash.
“It was a solid performance considering we hadn’t played for three or four weeks,” Cresnar said.
“It got a bit scrappy in the last 10 minutes, but I felt comfortable.
“We were very happy to be back out on the park. It’s obviously been a very frustrating period of time.
“Training for weeks just can’t prepare you for a match environment like playing a game does, so it was great to get the game under our belts.
“I don’t believe there were any injury concerns out of it, so we’ll have a recovery session and a training session and see how we’re looking for Friday.”
New Lambton enter Friday night’s fixture sitting two wins outside the promotion/relegation play-off zone in last place.
They have shown glimpses of potential this season and are the only team to have scored three goals in a game against Broadmeadow, but they are yet to win a match from nine attempts.
The Golden Eagles’ coach Shane Pryce said his team would need to rise to the occasion against the league leaders on Friday.
“It’s going to be good to finally get a game,” Pryce said.
“I know Magic played (on Tuesday), so their quick backup will test them, but I think they have enough depth in their squad to manage that, and all teams are going to be doing that over the next month too.
“We haven’t played for a while. Our players need to go out and prove themselves again, because you’re only as good as your last performance and we haven’t had one close enough to gauge anything.
“We respect every team we play but we definitely respect the champions, so I think this game will be a good test to see what this break has done to us, where we’re at and what we need to start doing to get some wins.”
New Lambton are expected to unleash Japanese midfielder Konata Furutani at Magic Park, with the club’s newest signing hoping to make an immediate impact for his new team.
Belmont Swansea United FC v Valentine FC
Blacksmiths Oval, Saturday 4:30pm
Valentine FC head coach Cas Wright has challenged her young squad to go to another level when they travel to Blacksmiths Oval to challenge Belmont Swansea United on Saturday.
The Phoenix have been one of the big improvers of the 2025 campaign, with their results against the top four sides an indication of how far they have come.
Against Edgeworth Eagles and Charlestown Azzurri earlier in the season they suffered back-to-back 7-1 and 5-1 losses at home, but in their most recent two outings they have pushed Weston Bears and Broadmeadow Magic in 2-1 and 2-0 defeats.
The Magic match was a rescheduled round 10 clash that was played at Croudace Bay Complex on Tuesday night.
Valentine went behind in the 16th minute when Will Ingram opened the scoring for Broadmeadow and it became 2-0 in the 57th minute when James Cresnar scored into an empty net following a defensive mistake.
Wright made a triple change in the 67th minute as the hosts went after the game, and the three players who were introduced almost found the back of the net as Toby Jensen hit the crossbar, new signing Shukurani Sunzu hit the post, and Nicholas Martinelli had a header from close range tipped over the bar.
The Valentine coach took plenty of positives out of the match but said she wants to see her side start burying their chances against BelSwans.
“We’ve got a few new players in since we played them last and we’ve changed our structure and the way we do things, so it’ll be a different sort of game for us,” Wright said.
“We played Magic (on Tuesday) and we took a lot away from that. We’ll look to build on what we didn’t do against Magic and take that to BelSwans on the weekend.
“Errors cost us again, and we’re looking to start minimising our errors. We’re focusing on putting the ball in the back of the net and trying to keep a clean sheet.
“Apart from Scotty Pettit, we’ve got a pretty young crew. Most of the squad is between 18 and 23 or 24. For us, it’s about gaining some experience and going to another level with Scotty and Harry (Lane) driving the ship.”
BelSwans are ready to unleash new signing Drew Patterson in front of a home crowd, who was set to line up for the first time at Jack McLaughlan Oval last weekend before the match against Edgeworth was washed out.
Mick Stafford’s side are locked on eight points with 11th-placed Valentine and are determined not to fall into the relegation zone for the first time this season.
Lambton Jaffas FC v Edgeworth Eagles FC
Arthur Edden Oval, Saturday 2pm
Two of the most elite defensive sides in the competition will go head-to-head at Arthur Edden Oval on Saturday afternoon when Lambton Jaffas host Edgeworth Eagles.
The Eagles lead the way in that department, having only conceded four goals in the nine league games they have played this season.
They have managed to keep their opposition scoreless in six matches so far.
Rain has washed out Edgeworth’s past four matches, so all eyes will be on how they look for the first time since beating Newcastle Olympic 3-0 back in April.
The Jaffas have conceded 11 goals in 10 games and have kept four teams scoreless so far.
One of those clean sheets was against the Eagles at Jack McLaughlan Oval in round three when they held one of the sharpest attacking outfits scoreless to earn a point.
The Eagles have been averaging four goals a game since then, having scored 24 times in six league games.
The Jaffas will need to go to another level against Peter McGuinness’ men come Saturday.
Edgeworth are now second on the table after Broadmeadow Magic won their midweek rescheduled round 10 match against Valentine 2-0 to leapfrog them into first, while Lambton are sixth, just one point outside the top five.
A win in this game would set up the second half of the season nicely for both of these sides.
Cooks Hill United FC v Weston Bears FC
Fearnley Dawes Athletics Field, Saturday 3:30pm
Cooks Hill United coach Chris Zoricich is looking for a much-improved performance when his men welcome the Weston Bears to Fearnley Dawes Athletics Field on Saturday afternoon.
Zoricich was disappointed when these two sides last met back in round three as the Bears trounced his team 4-0.
He said it was the first time he could ever remember conceding as many goals in a game while being held scoreless in his coaching career.
Cooks Hill bounced back to win their next game, as they have done after all but one of their six losses in 2025.
The problem for them is the inability to win back-to-back matches and show any consistency in their results.
They are coming off a 3-2 loss away from home against Lambton Jaffas earlier this month and are eager to return to winning ways this Saturday.
A top five spot up for grabs for the seventh-placed side that are just two points behind fourth-placed Charlestown Azzurri.
Weston will still be without their main man up front Chris Hatfield in round 14 as he serves the second game of a two-match suspension following an Australia Cup red card earlier this month.
Hatfield bagged a double when his side last met Cooks Hill and is now second on the golden boot tally, just one goal behind Edgeworth Eagles’ Ryan Feutz.
Aaron Niyonkuru and Blake Archbold also netted when Weston last met Cooks Hill and they will be looking to step up in Hatfield’s absence on Saturday.
Maitland FC v Adamstown Rosebud FC
Cooks Square Park, Saturday 6:30pm
Two sides ready to make a push towards the top five will face off at Cooks Square Park on Saturday night when Maitland FC welcome Adamstown Rosebud to town.
The Magpies are on a three-game unbeaten run and have picked up seven of their 11 points so far this season in those outings. They are now determined to score a third consecutive win for the first time this year.
Adam Hughes’ men have been washed out the past two weekends, but they were one of four teams that got on the park earlier this month in round 11.
A late Braedyn Crowley winner secured the three points that night as the Magpies beat Lambton Jaffas 1-0 to go above Adamstown into eighth.
Adamstown have occupied ninth place on the table since then as they sit two points behind Maitland and five points outside the top five.
Chris Moylan’s men are eager to play finals football in 2025 and at least avoid the relegation battle they faced in 2024.
They have lost their past three matches though and need to get back in the winner’s circle to get their campaign back on track.
Charlestown Azzurri FC v Newcastle Olympic FC
Lisle Carr Oval, Sunday 2pm
Two top five sides will clash at Lisle Carr Oval on Sunday afternoon when Charlestown Azzurri host Newcastle Olympic.
This is the sole Sunday fixture and is expected to wrap up the round in style.
Both teams have not played a league game since losing their respective round nine fixtures back in April, and they have both bowed out of the Australia Cup with losses this month.
The two sides are locked on 14 points and understand they must win this match to remain in the premiership hunt.
They could also be playing to return to the top five if Lambton and Cooks Hill both win their round 14 matches on Saturday.
Only one goal split Azzurri and Olympic when they met at Darling Street Oval earlier this season in round three.
A Reece McManus strike on the stroke of half-time was the difference as James Pascoe’s men secured a 1-0 win.
Olympic were without Roy O’Donovan that day and Azzurri played most of the game without fellow former Newcastle Jet Taylor Regan, but both have since returned from injury and will boost their respective sides in this Sunday’s high stakes battle at Lisle Carr Oval.
