Match of the Round
Belmont Swansea United FC v New Lambton FC
Blacksmiths Oval, Saturday 2:30pm
Belmont Swansea United coach Mick Stafford says his side have activated survival mode as they prepare to host New Lambton in a relegation battle at Blacksmiths Oval on Saturday afternoon.
BelSwans have been on a six-game losing streak since they defeated Cooks Hill United 4-1 away from home last month, and that has seen them drop to 10th on the table.
They are on 15 points with five matches left to play, one clear of Adamstown (14) and nine clear of New Lambton (6), who also both have five games remaining.
That makes this weekend’s contest a must-win match for both sides, especially a New Lambton outfit that will almost be mathematically locked into the automatic relegation spot if they do not get the job done.
Both teams are coming off losses after New Lambton went down 2-1 against Valentine FC at Croudace Bay Complex in round 19 last Sunday in and BelSwans were beaten 3-1 by Maitland FC at Blacksmiths Oval on Wednesday night in a rescheduled round 11 clash.
Stafford is well aware that he and his men need to get the job done and snap their losing streak in front of a home crowd this Saturday.
“I’m predicting a tough game from New Lambton. Every game in this league is tough, and in our first game against them, they were quite good and unlucky not to beat us. We take nothing for granted and it’s going to be a huge encounter,” Stafford said.
“The way I have put it to the players, is we’re basically the Toyota Carolla of the competition and we’ve been humming along alright all year. The last five weeks though, we’ve played the Lamborghinis and the Ferraris and all the hotted-up cars, and we’re finding how difficult it is to keep up.
“We knew it was going to be difficult, it got difficult, and it will stay difficult, and we all signed up for it, so we’ve got to enjoy the challenge.
“We’ve switched to survival mode, that’s for sure. Our goal has always been clear that we just want to stay up, and we’re achieving that goal currently. We’ll do everything we can to tick that box for the club.”
New Lambton’s loss against a 10-man Valentine FC side last Sunday was their 13th of the season in 17 games. They have only won once, but coach Shane Pryce has admired the manner in which his players have continued to show up each week.
He expects nothing different this Saturday against a side they earned one of their six points off earlier in the season.
“Mick has done a great job with BelSwans. They’re very competitive and they’ve approached this year really smart. They’ve got talented players and a good squad, and it’s going to be a tough game,” Pryce said.
“For us, we know what’s hovering over our heads and we take that into account.
“We’ve turned up for the majority of our games as far as attitude goes this year, but we’ve just lacked a 90-minute performance. We’ve been good in patches.
“To the guys’ credit, what I can say about this group that I am coaching is that they haven’t failed to turn up for me. In any league around the world, a high or low league, if a coach had got these results after this long, you probably would have lost the dressing shed, but to each player’s credit, they have stuck through it and kept me going.”
Lambton Jaffas FC v Valentine FC
Arthur Edden Oval, Saturday 2pm
Lambton Jaffas head coach David Tanchevski has been liking what he’s been seeing as of late as his men prepare to welcome Valentine FC to Arthur Edden Oval on Saturday afternoon.
The Jaffas are the best defensive side in the competition outside the top three and they showed that in back-to-back clean sheet victories against Weston Bears and Belmont Swansea last week.
They managed to achieve those without key defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley, who will be back on deck for this weekend’s game to solidify the backline even further.
Those results saw Lambton climb into fifth, but they have since dropped back to sixth after Maitland FC won a rescheduled match on Wednesday night to go ahead of them.
But with four games to go and sitting just one point outside the top five, the Jaffas are confident they will be playing finals football again this season.
Tanchevski’s prediction during the pre-season was that his side would start to gel and play their best football in the second half of the campaign, and he declared the playing group are starting to prove him right.
“With a lot of new players this year impacting the way we play, we always knew the second half of the season would be stronger than our first half, and we’re seeing that now,” Tanchevski said.
“We get Topor back this week, and we’re excited to get him back in. It’s been good to get some good results without him, and him being back strengthens us even more.
“Two clean sheets with him out was really good, and we’ve been scoring goals too, which is also really good.
“Valentine have had some decent results lately, and they’re going to be up for this game. We just have to win each game if we want to make the finals, and that starts with Valo this weekend.”
The Phoenix are currently ninth after scoring their fourth win of the campaign last weekend.
They are two points ahead of 11th-placed Adamstown Rosebud as they continue to battle to avoid the Promotion/Relegation Play-Offs, but they will do so for the remainder of the season without defender Hiroumi Ikeda.
Ikeda became the first player in the competition this season to be sanctioned for match official abuse following his red card last weekend. He has been suspended for eight games.
Charlestown Azzurri FC v Cooks Hill United FC
Lisle Carr Oval, Saturday 2pm
Charlestown Azzurri will be fighting to stay in the top five when they host Cooks Hill United at Lisle Carr Oval on Saturday afternoon.
Azzurri suffered a second consecutive loss last weekend but managed to remain in fourth place, however, they slipped to fifth on Wednesday night as they were overtaken by Maitland FC.
Sixth-placed Lambton Jaffas are a point behind them and seventh-placed Newcastle Olympic are two points back, so James Pascoe’s men are well aware that they must return to winning ways on home soil this Saturday.
It’s now or never for Cooks Hill, who are ranked eighth on the ladder but are just two wins behind Charlestown with two games in hand on them.
A win will give Chris Zoricich’s men a fighting chance to play finals football in a few weeks, but a loss would almost certainly make that task an unattainable one.
They had a chance to make ground on the top five this week when they hosted Broadmeadow Magic in a rescheduled round 11 fixture at Number Two Sportsground, but they went down 2-0 as former attacking weapon Cody Nancarrow came back to haunt his old team.
The young gun set up a goal for Jarred Baker in the opening minute and then sealed the victory in the 92nd.
That loss was Cooks Hill’s second on the trot and they are eager to avoid that becoming three on Saturday.
Weston Bears FC v Adamstown Rosebud FC
Rockwell Automation Park, Sunday 2pm
Weston Bears will be looking to further solidify third place when they welcome Adamstown Rosebud to Rockwell Automation Park on Sunday afternoon.
The Bears bounced back from a two-game losing streak in the best way possible on Wednesday night when they travelled to Jack McLaughlan Oval and handed Edgeworth Eagles their first loss of the season.
Wing-back Dom Archbold set up tap-in goals for Chris Hatfield in the 50th minute and Brock Beveridge in the 68th with perfect crosses from the left, and the side went on to prevail 2-1 after Edgeworth struck late through Flynn Goodman.
Weston had gone down twice in five days at home before that victory, and will be determined to ensure that does not become three this Sunday when they return to Rockwell Automation Park.
Adamstown are currently in a relegation battle with five games to go. They are ranked 11th on the 12-team table and are eager to avoid the Promotion/Relegation Play-Offs against the Northern League One sides, which they went through successfully in 2024.
The Rosebud snapped a two-game losing streak when they drew 0-0 at home against Newcastle Olympic last Saturday and they will be fighting to go one better this Sunday when they travel to meet one of the top teams in the competition.
Newcastle Olympic FC v Edgeworth Eagles FC
Darling Street Oval, Sunday 2pm
Newcastle Olympic will be hoping some of their former stars and well-respected clubmen can inspire a bounce back win when they host Edgeworth Eagles at Darling Street Oval on old boys’ day this Sunday.
Olympic have occupied fifth place for the majority of the campaign, but an eight-game run since the start of June that has seen them register just one win has led to them entering this weekend in seventh place.
They are two points outside the top five, and they have reached must-win territory after dropping two points in a 0-0 draw against Adamstown Rosebud last weekend.
Edgeworth are looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season on Wednesday night after they went down 2-1 at Jack McLaughlan Oval in a rescheduled round 10 contest against Weston Bears.
The Eagles finished the match strongly in front of a home crowd as Flynn Goodman’s 87th-minute volley gave them some hope, but they were unable to find a winner in the dying stages.
They are still on top of the table on for and against difference after being joined on 47 points by Broadmeadow Magic, and they are hungry to stay there as they prepare to tackle Olympic on Sunday.
The league leaders will be without one of their key men after Jackson Brady was sent off late in the loss against Weston.
Broadmeadow Magic FC v Maitland FC
Magic Park, Sunday 4:30pm
Round 20 has arguably saved the best until last as two in-form top-five teams get set to battle on Sunday evening when Broadmeadow Magic host Maitland FC at Magic Park.
There is certainly a sense of unfinished business surrounding this clash after the two sides met in a rescheduled round nine match at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility earlier this month.
The Wednesday night contest was locked at 0-0 with just over two minutes remaining in regulation time when the area suffered a power outage and the lights went out, which meant they were forced to split the points.
Magic are three from three since then and Maitland are two from three, and they were both victorious on Wednesday night in rescheduled games.
Broadmeadow defeated Cooks Hill United 2-0 at Number Two Sportsground after Cody Nancarrow set up a goal for Jarred Baker in the opening minute and then sealed the win against his former club with a classy strike in the 92nd minute.
That duo have been starting to fire in recent outings since returning from injury, carrying the strike force following the loss of Bailey Wells and Riley Smith to season-ending injuries earlier in the season.
Maitland travelled to Blacksmiths Oval where they took down Belmont Swansea United 3-1 to climb from seventh to fourth.
The in-form Daniel McFarlane opened the scoring in the 40th minute, and teammates Benjamin Power-O’Toole (56’) and Braedyn Crowley (65’) sealed the win with second half strikes before the hosts scored late.
With both of these teams starting to fire at the right time of the season, a potential game of the season contender could be on the cards at Magic Park on Sunday.
