Match of the Round
Lambton Jaffas 2-1 Valentine FC
Lambton Jaffas super sub Scott Pettit broke Valentine’s hearts scoring in the 93rd minute to secure a 2-1 win on Saturday.
Both teams had their chances to win in a pulsating end-to-end match at Arthur Edden Oval.
Carl Thornton’s goal celebrations were cut short when the referee disallowed the veteran Valentine defender’s goal for an infringement on Jaffas goalkeeper Ben Kennedy.
A goal line clearance from the Jaffas two minutes later thwarted another Valentine corner as the Phoenix applied the early pressure.
Valentine were finally rewarded when Tyrone Mulder eventually scored from a corner after a hive of activity in the penalty area eight minutes before half-time.
Kennedy could only punch the ball away to Scott McGinley, who squared to Riley Aunger whose shot was parried away.
Liam Thornton's shot was blocked but Mulder was the first to react to give the Phoenix a 1-0 lead.
Five minutes later the Jaffas equalised from a fantastic combination between Sam Webb, Kale Bradbery and Josh Benson.
Webb dribbled down the right wing, squared to Bradbery who cut it back to Benson who fired into the net to equalise 1-1.
Bradbery and Webb then went close for the Jaffas and Valentine continued to force Kennedy into a catalogue of saves.
On 79 minutes an electric run from Valentine's Sakeel Brown resulted in a foul and a penalty kick.
Chris Fayers stepped up to take the penalty but former Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners No.1 Kennedy was in scintillating form.
Fayers went down the middle and Kennedy dived to the left but somehow stuck out a big toe and deflected the ball onto the crossbar to save a goal.
The match was seemingly heading for a draw until in the 93rd minute when Reece Papas won a 50-50 tackle in his own half and launched the ball up to speedster Webb on the right.
Webb beat his defender and deftly chipped the ball over the Valentine back line into Pettit’s path who controlled with his left and lobbed the goalkeeper with his right, winning the match 2-1 at the death.
Lambton Jaffas coach David Tanchevski gave credit to their opponents.
"Valentine played really well and made it hard for us. It was a fairly even game in the first half," Tanchevski said.
"They had more possession in the second half but we had some really good opportunities we didn't take. Kale had two opportunities from close range and Webby also just had the keeper to beat.
"The penalty save from Ben Kennedy was huge again and we built momentum off that.
"We are starting to get some depth back and Scott Pettit coming off the bench is massive. [That was his] second goal off the bench for us as he continues to build minutes. He's been exceptional.
"Riley McNaughton picking up a shoulder injury is a big loss for us. We will have to assess it to see how long he will be out for.”
Valentine coach Adam Hughes reflected on the positives after the agonising loss in the dying seconds.
"We controlled the majority of the game and created many chances. Unfortunately for us, we weren't able to convert our opportunities,” Hughes said.
"We take the positives out of it and continue.”
New Lambton FC 1-2 Cooks Hill United
A 2-1 victory secured a precious three points for Cooks Hill United on Friday night to elevate them up the table and remain in touching distance with a cluster of front runners.
New Lambton opened the scoring after 15 minutes at Alder Park from a looping Dylan Bozinovski corner.
New Lambton's Kai Bradley intercepted Cooks Hill's counterattack from the corner and struck the ball into the net from 25 yards to give the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead.
But second half comebacks have been a recurring theme for Cooks Hill United this season.
A clever pass from Cooks Hill's Daniel Clements found Nick Russell in space on the left who casually put the ball in the net from 18 yards.
A late challenge from Cooks Hill's Daniel Berrigan on New Lambton's Sam Maxwell resulted in an altercation which resulted in red cards for both players just after the hour mark.
On 67 minutes Cooks Hill caught New Lambton napping from a clever short corner.
Nick Russell dribbled the ball from the corner flag into the penalty area and took a shot.
Daniel Yaxley picked up the pieces from the blocked shot and fired home to win the match 2-1 for Cooks Hill United.
Cooks Hill coach Chris Zoricich was pleased with the comeback and the precious three points.
"Our first half performance wasn't great but once we started to play to our gameplan we got on top and got ourselves a good equaliser and then managed to get in front from a set play," Zoricich said.
"New Lambton then came at us hard to try to draw level but we managed to hold out for a tough away win which is pleasing.”
Edgeworth FC 2-2 Maitland FC
It was the classic game of two halves which ultimately ended all-square at 2-2 between Edgeworth and Maitland on Sunday.
Edgeworth opened the scoring in the 11th minute at Jack McLaughlan Oval with a spectacular Jordan Lennon diving header from Tom Curran's free kick.
On 44 minutes Edgeworth target man Sascha Montefiore doubled the lead after a neat combination with Jacob Peper and Jarryd Sutherland.
Pepper initiated the attack with a floating pass into Sutherland who was surrounded by four Magpies and seemingly going nowhere.
But a great move created enough space to deliver an exquisite chip into the path of Montefiore to finish with his first touch.
Two goals down at half-time, the writing seemed on the wall for the Magpies. But whatever coach Michael Bolch said in the dressing room changed the match.
Maitland came out firing in the second half and scored within two minutes of the restart.
Braedyn Crowley dribbled through Pepper and Lennon and finished clinically into the left corner.
On 50 minutes James Thompson found Crowley on the left wing, where he sped past his defender, cut inside and drilled into the net to square the match 2-2.
Broadmeadow Magic 1-1 Lake Macquarie City
A disciplined and more compact Lake Macquarie City frustrated Broadmeadow in a scoreless first half at Magic Park on Sunday.
Joshua Maguire put Lake Macquarie ahead on 48 minutes with a clinical finish from a rebounded shot.
Lake Macquarie were seemingly heading for their first win of the season but Magic's Bailey Wells had other ideas.
Wells took Magic's 11th corner of the match which was seemingly defended safely.
But Wells chased back and regained possession and went a mazy run into the penalty area before he was eventually fouled.
Jarred Baker stepped up and scored the resulting penalty to share a 1-1 draw.
Lake Macquarie will take solace from the performance and their first point of the season as they continue to improve every week.
Newcastle Olympic 1-2 Charlestown Azzurri
Darling Street Oval, Sunday 23 April 3pm
Charlestown scoring from set pieces has been one of the only certainties in this year's NPL Men’s NNSW competition as the Azzurri marched to a 2-1 win at Darling Street Oval on Sunday.
On 21 minutes a dynamic run by Azzurri's Jacob Melling was stopped by a blatant shirt pull.
Typically, defending a free kick on the halfway line is not a problem, unless you are facing Taylor Regan and Nigel Boogaard.
A 50-yard free kick was floated into Regan who flicked into the six-yard-box but Olympic could not clear their lines.
The ball eventually landed to veteran striker Rene Ferguson who opened the scoring to make it 1-0 for Azzurri.
Lachlan Griffiths continued his rich vein of form to equalise for Olympic after 69 minutes.
With 10 minutes to go, Azzurri's Regan Lundy floated a perfectly weighted diagonal ball into 36-year-old Ferguson who nodded home to seal the three points for the competition leaders.
Azzurri maintain a five-point cushion at the top of the table over second-placed Lambton Jaffas.
Adamstown Rosebud v Weston Workers FC
Adamstown Oval, Tuesday 2.30pm
Adamstown host Weston at Adamstown Oval on Tuesday as part of ANZAC Day commemorations.
