Match of the Round
Lake Macquarie City FC v New Lambton FC
Macquarie Field, Saturday 4pm
New Lambton coach Shane Pryce says his side is ready to settle the score when they travel to Macquarie Field to take on Lake Macquarie City FC on Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Eagles lost 2-1 to the Roosters last time the two sides met in the competition in round five.
With the relegation battle heating up, a win is crucial for both teams to keep their hopes of staying up.
New Lambton enters the match with some momentum, after a massive 1-1 draw to league leaders Lambton Jaffas and a 2-1 win over Cooks Hill under their belt.
They sit 10th on the table, five points ahead of Lakes at the bottom of the table but now are on equal points with Adamstown Rosebud after they picked up back-to-back wins.
Pryce said that the reality of being in a relegation battle has become more apparent but was confident that his side is ready for the fight.
“The first time we played them (*Lakes) they beat us so we are eager to settle the ledger,” Pryce said.
“It is paramount for us to keep picking up points.
“Adamstown is on a bit of a run. We need to get out and avoid the playoff for relegation.
“In the first rounds playing each team we weren’t putting pressure on the players as there was so far to go in the competition. But now it is becoming more important that we pick up points against every team below us on the table.
“The message to the boys will be to lets go out there and give our best efforts and if we are good enough on the day then great.”
“It is about putting our best foot forward and then we will put ourselves in a good position.”
The New Lambton side will be without Sam Maxwell as he continues to recover from a groin injury.
Lakes sit at the foot of the table with one win against New Lambton, which Pete Preston hopes they can repeat on Saturday.
Despite their position on the table, the Rooster’s coach remained positive about his side and said they wouldn’t go down without a fight.
“We are feeling pretty good to be fair,” Preston said.
“We prepare to play New Lambton this week who have gotten a couple of results so far and I am sure Shayne will want a few more.
“We are taking one game at a time, we don’t to put too much pressure on them. We don’t want to put the fear into the players, we want them to be brave and take it on.
“We know that relegation is lingering in the background, we aren’t trying to hide from it but we are also not going to say ‘we want to win this game and this game’ because then we will likely lose all of them.”
“We are not getting caught up in the hype. No one is dropping away and everyone turns up to every training session which tells me the players are still on board with what we are trying to do.
“Our message has been that we believe in them and we are wanting to give them opportunities. We need to get them to keep believing and trust in the process.
“We are excited and confident that we can stay up and until the table says otherwise, we will fight until the end.”
Preston said his side’s downfall this season has been their inability to create and finish chances.
“We will continue to build our resilience and try and keep it tight in defence as well as score some goals.
“It has been our Achilles heel to put the ball into the back of the net when other teams are taking their chances.
“Box to box we are doing okay but we need to improve in front of goal. As young players get more experience, they will get better.
“We have done a lot of finishing but it’s hard to replicate the game day pressure regardless if we are in round one or round 20. We have given them different techniques but I think it is probably more to do with the fact that we haven’t created a lot of chances.
“I think they are excited about the challenge we have right now.”
A win for the Roosters would help close the gap between them, Adamstown and New Lambton and put them one step closer to getting out of the automatic relegation zone.
Adamstown Rosebud FC v Maitland FC
Adamstown Oval, Saturday 2:30pm
Adamstown Rosebud FC will hope to make it three from three when they host Maitland FC at Adamstown Oval on Saturday.
The young Rosebud squad has hit their strides, lifting themselves off the bottom of the table with back-to-back wins over Lake Macquarie City FC (3-1) and Newcastle Olympic (2-1) on Tuesday night.
Adamstown came from behind in their rescheduled round 10 game on Tuesday night to secure a shock upset over Olympic, with new signing Jacob Dundas scoring the winner in the 81st minute.
Adamstown sits 11th on the table on eight points, equal with New Lambton who sit in 10th.
New head coach Chris Moylan will hope that his side’s newfound form can help them continue their winning streak and get themselves out of the relegation zone.
Maitland has had a lot of speculation circulating about who will take over as head coach next year after the club announced last week that Mick Bolch would finish up at the end of the season.
The Magpies had not won a match in four games after three losses and a draw but secured a crucial 4-2 win over Edgeworth in their round 11 rescheduled fixture on Wednesday night.
The win has moved Maitland back up to seventh position with 18 points, two points behind Newcastle Olympic in sixth.
The side will hope that they can keep the off-field dramas off the pitch and continue to get their season back on track in their hunt for a finals spot.
Valentine FC v Cooks Hill United
Croudace Bay Complex, Saturday 5pm
Two sides will hope to continue their winning ways when Valentine FC welcomes Cooks Hill United to Croudace Bay Complex on Saturday afternoon.
The Phoenix have returned to form with back-to-back wins over New Lambton FC (2-0) and Lake Macquarie City FC (2-0).
The recent victories have helped them maintain fifth position on the table with 22 points, one point behind Edgeworth FC in fourth.
The last time these two sides went head-to-head in round five, they shared the points with a 1-1 draw. Both teams will be eager to hold the bragging rights on Saturday and keep their winning streaks alive.
A win against Cooks Hill will further cement their spot in the finals and keep Newcastle Olympic and Weston Workers FC below them at arm’s reach.
Cooks Hill moved up the table into eighth position last week after a crucial 4-1 win over Charlestown Azzurri but has since dropped back down to ninth after mid-week catch-up matches.
Carter Smith scored his first hat-trick of the season against the Blues and will hope to continue his form on the road on Saturday.
Chris Zoricich and his side will be eager to extend the gap between themselves and the bottom teams to cement and try to keep their finals hopes alive.
Broadmeadow Magic FC v Weston Workers FC
Magic Park, Sunday 2:30pm
Broadmeadow Magic will hope to close the gap in the premiership race when they host Weston Workers FC at Magic Park on Sunday.
Magic’s men sit second on the table with 36 points, four points behind league leaders Lambton Jaffas.
They have not had the chance to bounce back from their heartbreaking Australia Cup defeat against Lambton Jaffas after their round 15 match against Edgeworth FC was washed out.
Jim Cresnar will be determined that his side make it six from six wins and continue to hunt down the Jaffas for the top spot.
Weston has continued to pick up mixed results, with two wins and three losses in their last five games.
They are eighth on the table with 16 points but need three points on Sunday as they have Cooks Hill United hot on their trail, one point behind.
Kew Jaliens will hope that his side can bounce back from their 2-1 loss to league leaders Jaffas last weekend and return to the winner’s circle once again against Magic.
The last time these two teams went head-to-head in the competition in round five it was a close contest with Magic edging out the Bears after a 3-2 win.
Newcastle Olympic v Lambton Jaffas
Darling Street Oval, Sunday 2:30pm
Newcastle Olympic will be desperate to bounce back when they welcome league leaders Lambton Jaffas to Darling Street Oval on Sunday.
Paul DeVitis and Neil Owen’s side enters the clash off the back of a shock 2-1 loss to Adamstown Rosebud in their round 10 catch-up game on Tuesday night.
They remain sixth on the table with 20 points but have three teams closely behind, hunting them down for a finals spot.
Olympic will hope that they turn things around, with a win able to move them up into fifth if other results go their way.
Lambton Jaffas continues to go from strength to strength and stay undefeated in the competition, after 13 wins and one loss.
They sit in first position and are four points clear of Broadmeadow Magic in second position.
In a big blow for David Tanchevski and his team, star defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley is set to be sidelined for an extended period after he was forced from the pitch against Weston with a foot injury.
The last time these two sides faced off, a penalty goal from Kale Bradbery was the only thing that separated the sides.
Another close contest can be expected between the Olympic and Jaffas with each side having something to prove.
Charlestown Azzurri v Edgeworth FC
Lisle Car Oval, Sunday 2:30pm
It will be the battle between third and fourth when Charlestown Azzurri and Edgeworth FC go head-to-head at Lisle Carr Oval on Sunday afternoon.
The Blues enter the clash off the back of a 2-2 draw to Maitland and a 4-1 defeat to Cooks Hill United.
Despite missing defensive duo Nigel Boogaard and Taylor Regan last Sunday, Azzurri’s depth lacked as they were outplayed by the young hungry Cooks Hill side.
Azzurri sits third on the table with 28 points, eight points behind Broadmeadow Magic in second and five points clear of their opposition this weekend Edgeworth in fourth.
The side could be without Keiran Hayes, Luke Callen (hamstring) and Cameron Joice (quadriceps), as they were forced from the field last weekend with injury.
James Pascoe will be eager for his side to put their dip in form behind them and return to their winning ways.
Edgeworth has been flying high in recent weeks with seven straight wins under their wings as well as advancing to Round 32 of the Australia Cup.
But they will hope to quickly respond after a 4-2 loss to Maitland FC in their round 11 catch-up match on Wednesday night.
Pete McGuinness’s new signing Ryan Feutz has made his mark on the competition as a striker with a killer instinct and looks to be unstoppable when he links up with former and current teammate Seth Clark in attack.
The Eagles sit fourth on the table but as teams behind them begin to close in, a win on Sunday is crucial to cement their spot in finals football.