Match of the Round
New Lambton FC v Valentine FC
Alder Park, Saturday 2pm
New Lambton FC coach Shane Pryce is confident that his side’s first point can be the catalyst for their first win as they prepare to host Valentine FC in the match of the round at Alder Park on Saturday.
Pryce was a happy coach when the full-time whistle blew at Cooks Square Park on Wednesday night as the Golden Eagles drew 1-1 in their rescheduled round six clash.
A 50th-minute Vali Brandis volley saw his side equalise against Maitland FC, who had gone ahead in the first minute through a Braedyn Crowley header.
The draw snapped New Lambton's six-game losing streak and was a reward for the players’ hard work on the training paddock.
Pryce was sure that his men could build on Wednesday’s positive result and get the job done against Valentine.
“It’s a bit of a reward for a long journey and a lot of hard work,” Pryce said.
“We could have won it and I believe we’ve had a chance to win every week. But for the players to get some confidence and to also learn what it takes to even get a point in this league, how hard they’ve got to work and how much they have to respect the game of football, I think it’s going to go a long way towards us keeping on improving.
“It’s about respecting each other’s efforts. I don’t think we’d worked collectively and realised how much hard work and sacrifice you have to put on the field to actually achieve something, but that realisation was there tonight (Wednesday). Everyone contributed. There’s not one person I thought could have tried harder.
“The boys were rewarded for that. It wasn’t the reward we wanted, but we’ll certainly take it.
“Valo [Valentine] this weekend. We respect every opposition we play, and teams and clubs that have had a bit of turmoil, you really have to be wary of.
“We just need to concentrate on ourselves though. I know that’s the old saying but it’s true.
“We’ve got a level now that we’ve set that we need to meet each week or we won’t get anything out of this competition.”
Valentine and New Lambton are 10th and 12th on the table, respectively and they share the worst defensive record in the competition with 23 goals against in their seven games.
The Phoenix have conceded 12 of those goals in their past two matches either side of Kallum Garbett’s departure as head coach. But his replacement Cas Wright thought there were positives to take out of those games after they scored last in both by battling until the final whistle.
“That’s a bit of a club philosophy, that we never give up and we keep going no matter what the result is,” Wright said.
“It’s the way we’ve tried to build a culture from the youngest teams through to seniors, and the young ones watching our seniors play and seeing that, it gives them a bit of esteem to move forward in their games that if they’re struggling, they have it in them to keep going as well.”
“New Lambton is my old club, so there will be a good rivalry there,” Wright added about this weekend’s game.
“We’ll be putting our best foot forward and look to start to build the team again. We’re focusing on things game by game and looking to improve as we go.”
Wright became the first female head coach in the NNSW NPL Men’s competition last weekend, which she said she hoped would show other females that they can achieve success in areas traditionally dominated by men.
“For me, it’s about being the best coach for the role regardless of gender,” Wright said.
“I was the first female TD of a premier club as well. It shows that there are opportunities out there. It’s not easy, but as long as you’re putting the right foot forward, the opportunities will come.
“It’s not the best of circumstances for me, but it is what it is.”
Wright said her goal this year was for Valentine to finish above where they placed in 2024 under coach Adam Hughes, which was eighth.
Broadmeadow Magic v Weston Bears
Magic Park, Friday 8pm
Broadmeadow Magic head coach Jim Cresnar has challenged his men to step up and show some consistency moving forward as they prepare to challenge Weston Bears on home soil on Friday night.
Two of the three in-form teams of the competition will kick off the round at Magic Park in what is expected to be a blockbuster contest that will certainly have implications on the standings at the pointy end of the table.
Weston is on a four-game winning streak but slipped to fourth during the week after being overtaken by Charlestown Azzurri. They are determined to climb back into the top three heading into the Easter long weekend break.
Regardless of where they sit, a win against Broadmeadow would close the gap between themselves and the league leaders to three points and the Bears also have a game in hand.
Broadmeadow is on a six-game winning streak after earning all 18 points on offer since their opening-round loss in the grand final rematch against Edgeworth.
Their past three victories have all been by a one-goal margin and they have been second best at times in all of those games, but one of the traits of champion teams is that they find ways to win and Magic are certainly doing that.
Cresnar said he was pleased that his men have been getting the job done but he wants them to improve, especially defensively.
“We haven’t been consistent enough,” Cresnar said.
“Yes, we’ve been getting the results, but we’re still under par, I believe.
“Defensively, we need to get better, especially shape-wise.
“No doubt we need to work on a few things with a massive game against Weston coming up.
“Weston is a team that wants to play. They’re a team that wants to control the game with the ball, which is good to see.
“I think it will be an entertaining game, that’s for sure.”
The Magic boss said there was a chance that Bailey Wells would line up against the Bears to make his return from a quad injury that has kept him sidelined for the past two matches.
Newcastle Olympic v Adamstown Rosebud FC
Darling Street Oval, Friday 8pm
A spot in the top five is on the line when Newcastle Olympic hosts Adamstown Rosebud at Darling Street Oval on Friday.
Olympic is in fifth position but is just two points ahead of Adamstown and Cooks Hill United, so while a win in round eight could see them create a five-point buffer from the chasing pack, a loss could see them stumble out of the five.
They are also looking to return to form in front of goal after struggling to fire in recent weeks. The Olympic men have only found the back of the net once in their past two matches after scoring 14 in their first five.
There were two major positives out of their 0-0 draw against Lambton last Saturday, the first being it was their maiden clean sheet of the campaign.
The other was the return of their major off-season signing Roy O’Donovan from a back injury. He featured for the first time since round one when he entered in the 86th minute and coach Paul DeVitis is confident his minutes will increase this Friday.
The Rosebud are full of confidence this season and are eager to return to winning ways after falling short against Broadmeadow Magic last Friday. Chris Moylan’s men may have lost that match 3-2, but it was a small victory for them as they pushed the league leaders all the way to full-time.
Edgeworth Eagles v Cooks Hill United
Jack McLaughlan Oval, Saturday 4pm
Cooks Hill United coach Chris Zoricich is looking for his side to build on last weekend’s win when they travel to Jack McLaughlan Oval to challenge Edgeworth Eagles on Saturday.
A 4-2 victory away from home against New Lambton FC on Sunday saw Cooks Hill move within two points of the top five, but Zoricich thought his men made things much harder on themselves than they needed to as they secured their third win of the campaign.
Cooks Hill are yet to truly show their full potential in 2025 and they are well aware that they will need to rise to another level when they take on one of the form teams of the competition in round eight.
Edgeworth has been in sensational form of late and on a four-game winning streak during which they outscored their opponents 19 goals to three.
They boast the best defensive record with just four goals against in seven starts, and the 21 goals they have scored so far are also the competition’s benchmark.
The Eagles are second on the table just one point behind league leaders Broadmeadow and will be playing for top spot if Magic are to drop points against Weston Bears on Friday night.
Lambton Jaffas v Belmont Swansea United
Arthur Edden Oval, Saturday 4:30pm
Lambton Jaffas are well aware that they will need to be switched on for the full 90 minutes this Saturday when they host Belmont Swansea United at Arthur Edden Oval.
BelSwans played their rescheduled round six match against Charlestown Azzurri at Lisle Carr Oval on Tuesday night and a Kane Woolston double saw them come from behind to draw the match 2-2.
Lambton coach David Tanchevski labelled Woolston as one of the side’s danger players and said that his side were ready for a tough battle against the competition newcomers.
BelSwans have been solid since gaining promotion into the league this year.
They adopted the ‘battlers from Blacksmiths’ tag early in the season and they have proven to be exactly that after coming from behind to earn all six points they have picked up so far this season.
But they are going to need to step up this Saturday when they challenge a Lambton team that have kept three clean sheets in six matches and has the second-best defensive record in the competition.
The Jaffas are the worst attacking side this season and Tanchevski is hopeful they will start banging in some goals this Saturday.
Charlestown Azzurri v Maitland FC
Lisle Carr Oval, Sunday 2pm
Charlestown Azzurri will host the lone Sunday fixture in round eight when they welcome Maitland FC to Lisle Carr Oval.
Each of these sides is coming off home midweek games after Azzurri drew 2-2 against Belmont Swansea United on Tuesday before Maitland drew 1-1 against New Lambton FC on Wednesday.
Those were rescheduled round six clashes and the results saw Charlestown climb above Weston Bears into third place and Maitland remain 11th.
The Magpies’ start to the season has been well below what they had expected as Wednesday’s winless result was their sixth in seven games.
It was also their first match without one of their big 2025 signings, with former A-League gun Nick Cowburn recently leaving the club by mutual consent to join Newcastle Croatia FC in Zone Football League One.
Charlestown on the other hand, recently got their former A-League star back as Taylor Regan made a successful return from injury in a 5-1 round seven win against Valentine FC. He got through 69 minutes that afternoon and then the full 90 during the week.
Azzurri are entrenched in the top five and could enter the Easter weekend break one point from the top of the table if results go their way this weekend.