Match of the Round
Broadmeadow Magic FC v Cooks Hill United FC
Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility Field One, Saturday 5pm
Broadmeadow Magic coach James Cresnar says they are hoping they will get a chance to celebrate their 2025 premiership in front of a packed home crowd on Saturday night when they take on Cooks Hill United in the final round of the regular season.
While all of this weekend’s matches have been relocated to the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility, home clubs have the option to play the fixtures at their own venues if the fields are playable.
Magic are one club that are eager to play at home, given that Saturday is planned to be their old boys’ day and they are keen to celebrate that occasion and the premiership at Magic Park.
But the club are well aware that they have finals games to play at the venue in the coming weeks and they may have to play at Speers Point.
“We’ll try to play at Magic Park, but we don’t want to damage the ground with semi-finals coming up. It’s a tough balance there,” Cresnar said.
“It’s our old boys’ day, so ideally we’ll host the games at home to allow us to welcome our old boys back home.”
Like most teams, Magic have had a jam-packed schedule across the past few weeks, and their players are certainly feeling the effects of that.
Cresnar will be without his son James on Saturday as he misses the match through a yellow card accumulation suspension, and the Magic coach said a few other first grade regulars would also get rests.
Cresnar said the benefit of that was it would give other players a chance to get some minutes into their legs, with at least two players set to make their first grade starting debut.
“Cooks Hill, I imagine, will be focused on their Australia Cup match against the Jets,” Cresnar said.
“Congratulations to them on making the Round of 16. That’s a great achievement.
“It will be interesting to see what type of lineup they put out, with so many games scheduled for them lately. We will be definitely be resting players because there are players in our squad who just need a break. It’s been a heavy toll on the players with all the rescheduled games due to wet weather.
“At the same time, it’s a great opportunity for younger players to get some more game time.”
A finals appearance is out of Cooks Hill’s grasp following two draws and two losses from their past four matches, but they still have two clear goals in mind.
The first is ending the league campaign on a high with what would be their biggest scalp of the league competition against the premiers, and the other is preparing for their Australia Cup Round of 16 clash against Newcastle Jets next Wednesday.
Chris Zoricich’s men relish having the underdog tag, and they certainly will be in that position during their next two matches as they look to show what they are made of and cause two big upsets.
They are walking wounded at the moment though, with a lack of training and an abundance of games in recent weeks taking their toll as several players are either injured or playing well below 100 per cent.
But Zoricich knows they would need to be better than they were against Maitland no matter who takes the pitch.
“We were awful (against Maitland). We were nowhere near where we need to be,” Zoricich said.
“Unfortunately, we’re running on empty at the moment. I tried to rest a couple of players and unfortunately, we picked up more injuries (Xavier Williams, Daniel Yaxley, Mitch Dobson and Daniel Eisenhauer).
“Maitland were very good though. That was the best footballing side we’ve come up against this season.
“We just weren’t up to it last night.
“It’s been a juggling act the last few weeks, and as much as I tell the boys to put the cup game out of their heads, it’s there, and they are going to not want to get injured as they gear up for potentially the biggest game of their lives.
“Going into this game against Magic, it’s a hard one because obviously we want to put on a decent performance, but three games in seven days, with the cup game being the third, it’s not going to work.
“I’ll need to find out who’s available, but effectively I need to put out a mixed side with a lot of our reserve grade players.”
Edgeworth Eagles FC v Charlestown Azzurri FC
Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility Field One, Friday 8pm
Edgeworth Eagles coach Peter McGuinness said his side have quickly shifted to finals mode following the recent disappointment of dropping out of the premiership race as they prepare to face Charlestown Azzurri at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility to kick off the round on Friday night.
The Eagles have spent more time at the top of the table than any other team this season, but three losses in their past four games after going through the first 17 rounds undefeated derailed their chances of finishing first and qualifying for the Australian Championship.
McGuinness said they would now dust themselves off and use this Friday’s game as a chance to take some momentum into the finals as they look to go one better in 2025 after losing last year’s decider against the back-to-back premiers, Broadmeadow Magic.
“It obviously hurts. We were right in that Magic game until that late penalty, and it slipped away from us, then the game against Weston was played in horrible conditions for football, but no excuses, it was the same for them,” McGuinness said.
“We’re heavily focused now on trying to get into the grand final and win the grand final. That’s what our aim is now.
“We’re going into Friday to win the game. We want to go into the finals series off a win. We’ve lost our last couple, so we want to make sure we win.
“Charlestown have been a bit hit and miss across the second round after starting the season really well. They would be disappointed in where they’ve finished up, but they have enough quality in their group there to cause us problems on Friday. They’ll want to win this game and I’m sure their effort will be there.”
Adding to the motivation for Edgeworth Eagles is securing second spot on the table. For weeks now, it seemed a given that Broadmeadow and Edgeworth were locked into the top two spots, but Weston Bears’ run of five wins in six games sees them sitting just three points behind Edgeworth with a game to go.
A win or a draw will guarantee the Eagles second place and a home qualifying final, but a loss would open the door for the Bears to join them on 50 points and overtake them on goal difference.
For Charlestown, a season with so much promise has recently been derailed by unavailability, mainly from injury.
Azzurri spent a large portion of the season ranked fourth, but they have lost their past five matches to drop out of the finals race and fall to seventh.
A win on Friday night could see them finish the year in sixth, depending on Newcastle Olympic’s final two results.
Adamstown Rosebud FC v New Lambton FC
Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility Field Two, Sunday 12pm
Adamstown Rosebud FC are hoping to end their 2025 campaign on a huge high when they challenge New Lambton FC at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Sunday afternoon.
The Rosebud are on a two-game winning streak and are looking to make it three in a row for the first time this year, which would be a perfect way for the club to finish the season after recently securing survival.
Chris Moylan’s men have spent the past few weeks trying to battle their way out of the relegation zone, and back-to-back clean sheet victories this month have led to them entering the final round in no danger of finishing 11th.
In fact, they are currently ninth but could finish the season as high as eighth if they win again on Sunday.
The side’s main aim this year was to avoid one of the two relegation spots after they earned their survival through the Promotion/Relegation Play-Off Finals series in 2024, and a 3-0 victory against New Lambton at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Wednesday night ensured that would be achieved.
A 28th-minute own goal had Adamstown ahead at the break in the rescheduled round 11 match before goals to Nicolas Gismero (71’) and Cameron Davies (85’) sealed the win.
For New Lambton, the loss was their 15th in 20 games this season and sealed their relegation to HIT106.9 Northern League One for 2026.
The Golden Eagles needed to win Wednesday night’s match to have any chance of leapfrogging Valentine FC, but they remained nine points behind the Phoenix with just two matches left to play.
Lambton Jaffas FC v Maitland FC
Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility Field Two, Sunday 4pm
Lambton Jaffas and Maitland FC are likely to be the two teams to contest this season’s elimination final and their round 22 match at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility this Sunday could determine which of the two sides will get to host that finals battle.
Maitland climbed above Lambton into fifth place on Wednesday night when they took down Cooks Hill United 3-0 in a rescheduled round 13 clash.
The win saw them finish the night on 31 points with two games to play, ahead of Lambton who have only one game left and are on 30 points.
A Magpies win or a draw in this game would see Adam Hughes’ men lock in a fourth-place finish, but a Lambton win would see David Tanchevski’s side climb back into fourth.
The Jaffas would then need Maitland to draw or lose their rescheduled round 21 match against Belmont Swansea United next Wednesday to hold onto fourth.
Both of these sides have been in fine form of late, with each winning four of their past five matches.
Maitland’s victory over Cooks Hill on Wednesday was a clinical one as skipper Braedyn Crowley netted his 20th goal of the campaign in the third minute of the contest before the side went on to record their fourth clean sheet.
Goals to Jordan Lennon (40’) and Sean Pratt (81’) ensured the Magpies would end the night above Lambton on the ladder.
An 88th-minute Crowley goal was the difference when Maitland and Lambton met in round 11 back in May.
Both teams have improved significantly since then and will be determined to show that this Sunday as they look to gain the upper hand for their likely elimination final rematch.
Valentine FC v Weston Bears FC
Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility Field One, Sunday 5pm
Second place could be up for grabs for the Weston Bears when they challenge Valentine FC at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Sunday evening.
A dominant 5-1 victory against Newcastle Olympic in a rescheduled round 13 fixture on Wednesday night at Rockwell Automation Park saw the Bears climb to 47 points.
That put the third-placed side just three behind the Edgeworth Eagles, so if Edgeworth lose their last match of the regular season at home against Charlestown Azzurri on Friday night, second place will be the Bears’ to lose on Sunday.
Wednesday night’s win was a dominant one as the Bears extended their undefeated league run to six games. The victory was their fifth in that stretch of games.
The result was a warning shot to the rest of the league after the Bears’ assistant coach Nathan Morris said after Saturday’s win against Edgeworth that their goal was to freshen up their players for the finals, rather than push themselves to breaking point to try and finish second.
Valentine are going to end the season in 11th with the exception of a miracle, so this match is a chance for them to finish the regular season on a high and take some momentum into the Promotion/Relegation Play-Off Finals series against the HIT106.9 Northern League One sides.
The Phoenix pushed premiers Broadmeadow Magic all the way to full-time in a 2-1 loss last Friday, and they are now eager to produce another impressive effort against another of the league’s top sides this Sunday.
Belmont Swansea United FC v Newcastle Olympic FC
Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility Field Two, Sunday 6pm
Belmont Swansea United are focused on locking in their spot in the 2026 NPLM campaign and putting on an impressive performance for their past players in attendance when they challenge Newcastle Olympic on old boys’ day this Sunday.
This fixture is another one where the home side is determined to play the match at their own ground instead of the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility, with BelSwans eager to get the game on at Blacksmiths Oval.
The match will double as the club’s sponsors’ day, and coach Mick Stafford said they hoped to get the game on at home for a fixture that was an important one in the local community.
BelSwans need just one point from their last two games to ensure their survival, but even if they lose both matches, the chances of them dropping below Valentine FC into 11th are miniscule.
Stafford’s men can finish as high up the table as seventh if they can end the year on a three-game winning streak, and that is exactly what they are aiming to do.
This match is an important one for Olympic as they look to bounce back from a devastating mid-week loss.
They travelled to Rockwell Automation Park on Wednesday night for a rescheduled round 13 clash and were beaten 5-1 by the Weston Bears.
That result meant that Olympic remained in sixth place and fell five points outside the top five.
They now need to win both of their final two games on the run home and also need other results to go their way if they are to sneak into the finals.
