Match of the Round
Lambton Jaffas v Newcastle Olympic
Arthur Edden Oval, Saturday 2pm
Lambton Jaffas coach David Tanchevski said that his side must be focused to shut down former striker Kale Bradbery this Saturday when they welcome Newcastle Olympic to Arthur Edden Oval.
Tanchevski noted last week in the lead-up to the washed-out match of the round against Weston that the Jaffas had yet to see anyone stand up and replace Bradbery so far this season.
Their former number nine scored five goals and set up a couple more for Olympic in 2025, while Lambton scored only three goals in total across their first five games.
Tanchevski said his men would need to be fully focused for the whole 90 minutes come Saturday.
“Kale is one of those players that can be missing in a game for long periods but then just pops up and score goals,” Tanchevski said.
“You can’t switch off against him. He’s a goal-scorer, and he was the leading goal-scorer at this club for many years, every year that I’ve coached anyway.
“He’s the big danger up front for them, but obviously Jared Muller has been in a fair bit of form as well.
“They have a good attack and we have a strong defence, so it should be a good matchup. At the other end it’s probably a little bit the opposite. They’ve probably leaked a few too many goals and we haven’t scored enough.”
Lambton are yet to win since defeating New Lambton 2-0 in their season opener, but they have been impressive in patches despite goals being hard to come by.
They have the third best defence in the league and are finally back to full strength this weekend, so they are hopeful that a second win could be just around the corner.
“We should be at full strength this weekend, apart from (Matt) Buettner obviously who’s out for the season,” Tanchevski said.
“It’ll be the first time we’ve had everyone to choose from and we’re pretty excited by that. It means we’ll have a strong bench too, which will be important.
“We wanted to play last weekend against Weston because we’d had a good performance against Charlestown the week before that we wanted to build on, and we would have fielded the same team two weeks in a row for the first time this season.
“The weekend off was probably good for Jimmy Oates though. Another week of training under his belt and an extra week to build the strength back up in his knee, so he’s good to go for the weekend.
“I think he’ll start but we’ll see how he gets through training on Thursday.”
Olympic were disappointed after losing 2-1 away from home against Broadmeadow Magic in the Red and Blue derby last Sunday.
While a loss against their rivals always stings, it was the fact that they felt as though they had more than enough chances to win the match that was most deflating.
Coach Paul DeVitis was confident they could bounce back this Saturday and looked forward to the challenge of going up against another quality opposition side with an impressive defensive record.
“We’re really disappointed to not have picked up at least a point against Magic. We felt like we deserved something out of the game,” DeVitis said.
“From minute 15 to minute 70, we were very good. I thought we outplayed them for a lot of that time and created a lot of good chances. We got a bit unlucky too, especially with Kale’s shot that hit the post.
“We started slow again, which was disappointing, but we played well overall. There were plenty of positives despite the loss.
“Lambton this weekend. Their defence has been phenomenal over the past two years.
“So far this year we’ve been scoring a good amount of goals but we have been conceding way more than we should have. Dave is right with what he’s said about the teams’ attack and defence this year.
“Lambton are a good team with good players. They’ve had a lot of injuries this year, so it’s hard to predict the lineup they’ll put out. But whoever is there, it will be a strong 11.”
Olympic were without Ben Hay (ankle) and Roy O’Donovan (back) last Sunday for the derby against Magic. Hay is expected to return this weekend and O’Donovan could play his first game since round one.
“Roy’s been training and is 50-50 this week,” DeVitis said.
“He has progressed really well over the last week and a half. We’re hoping within the next two weeks he’ll be fully available.”
Maitland FC v Edgeworth Eagles FC
Cooks Square Park, Sunday 4:30pm
Maitland FC coach Adam Hughes has put his players on notice ahead of a crucial clash against Edgeworth Eagles at Cooks Square Park on Sunday afternoon.
The Magpies are second-last on the 12-team table with four points after earning just one win in their first five matches.
Hughes declared this week that the club would be utilising the mid-season window to bring in new players after their slow start.
Maitland’s men have not been able to kill off games so far this season after they led in three of the four matches they have dropped points in, which Hughes believed to be a confidence issue that his side can certainly overcome.
The Magpies were ahead 3-1 after half-an-hour in their last start at home against Newcastle Olympic in round five but went down 5-3, and their coach is well aware that they will need to be much better on Sunday when they welcome one of the form sides of the competition to town.
“They’ve [Edgeworth] got the momentum going and it’s going to be a good test for us,” Hughes said.
“We’ll show respect to them in certain ways, but we’ll go out with our own game plan and we will hopefully be on the front foot.
“From a technical point of view, I don’t think our footwork and positioning has been good enough around the penalty area, or is the way we’ve been closing down.
“Basic slight structure tweaks in the way we should offset each other in certain moments and how we should be pressurising the ball in certain areas and tracking runners needs to improve.
“It’s small detail stuff we need to improve on if we want to start not conceding as many goals. It’s not good enough on that front at the moment.
“I think it’s a bit of a confidence thing in regards to staying on the front foot and how to control the tempo of the game with the ball,” Hughes added in regards to his side giving up several leads this season.
“We need to get better at this. We can; I’ve already seen it this year. It was very evident in the pre-season but it unfortunately hasn’t flown over into the start of the season for large spells, although it’s been there in patches.
“You need to be able to control the game with and without the ball if you’re a chance of winning.
“I’m confident we can turn it around, but there will definitely 100 per cent be changes come May as well. We need to refresh again, so when the first window opens, we’ll have to bring bodies in. It’s just the nature of the beast at the moment, and everyone’s performances need to be on song leading into that period.
“I’m hoping the team can improve but there’ll definitely be players that come in.”
The Eagles are flying high ahead of their trip to Maitland, with their 7-1 win away from home against Valentine on Sunday extending their unbeaten start to the 2025 season to six games.
They are second on the table and are just one point behind league leaders Broadmeadow.
Broadmeadow Magic v Adamstown Rosebud
Magic Park, Friday 8pm
Adamstown Rosebud coach Chris Moylan says his side is fit, firing and full of confidence ahead of another Friday night match under lights when they travel to Magic Park to kick off round seven against league leaders Broadmeadow Magic this week.
Moylan’s men have left last season’s relegation battle well and truly behind them and they have already blown 2024 out of the water.
Rosebud failed to keep a clean sheet at all last season but have already kept two teams scoreless this year in their first six games.
They also only managed two wins last year, which they have already bettered in 2025 after scoring their third victory of the campaign last Friday night when they downed Cooks Hill 2-0, which also saw them match the nine competition points they earned in total last year.
Adamstown is going to need to shift several gears come Friday though as they welcome the defending champions Broadmeadow to town who are on a five-game winning streak following a 2-1 win against Newcastle Olympic in round six.
But Moylan was confident that they can cause an upset and enter the top five if they stick to their gameplan.
“When we don’t stick to our plan, we get punished, but when we do, we look good and we’re hard to break down,” Moylan said.
“Good teams can force you to lose your shape though, like Edgeworth did to us.
“If we play as well against Broadmeadow as we did against Cooks Hill, defensively, we’ll make it very difficult for them.”
Magic is once again the team to beat so far this year, but their five-game winning streak has not been as picturesque as coach Jim Cresnar would have liked.
Cresnar thought they were well below their best in back-to-back 2-1 wins against Belmont Swansea and Olympic.
While he was pleased that they found ways to win on each occasion, he wants an improved performance on Friday night.
Magic midfielder Bailey Wells missed the Olympic match with a quad injury and will likely be out of Broadmeadow’s round seven and eight games as well.
Belmont Swansea United v Weston Bears
Blacksmiths Oval, Saturday 4:30pm
Belmont Swansea United are looking to return to the winner’s circle when they host the in-form Weston Bears at Blacksmiths Oval on Saturday evening.
BelSwans are eighth on the table after kicking off their season with a big win at home against Adamstown that saw them finish the opening weekend on top.
They have since had two draws and two tight losses, which saw them slide down the table before their round six match last weekend against Charlestown Azzurri was washed out at Lisle Carr Oval.
That match has been rescheduled for next Tuesday, April 8, so this Saturday’s game kicks off a run of three fixtures in a week for Mick Stafford’s men. Beginning that run with three points would be a dream result for them.
BelSwans are well aware they are going to be made to work for a result though as they challenge one of the form teams of the competition.
Weston began their campaign with a loss and a draw but have since won their most recent three matches a combined 14 goals to two.
Their round six fixture was also washed out, so they will be just as fresh as BelSwans coming into this game.
Valentine FC v Charlestown Azzurri
Croudace Bay Complex, Saturday 6pm
Valentine FC will attempt to bounce back from the largest loss of the season on Saturday when they welcome Charlestown Azzurri to Croudace Bay Complex.
There were only three games played last weekend as wet weather took its toll, but Valentine’s home fixture against Edgeworth went ahead and the Phoenix were trampled 7-1 by the Eagles.
That saw them become the first team to be beaten by six goals this year and it was almost seven before a late Cooper Fitchett consolation goal got Valentine on the scoresheet in injury time.
Valentine had scored their first win of the season the previous weekend when they took down Cooks Hill United 4-0 and there were plenty of positive signs for them in that game.
They are now determined to return to winning ways against one of the benchmark teams of the league this Saturday.
Azzurri were one of the six teams who were washed out last weekend and they are also looking to get back to winning ways.
James Pascoe’s men started the season with a bang with three wins on the trot, but they have since picked up one point from their past two matches.
The fourth-placed side have a remarkable record against the Phoenix following four wins in as many games against them across the 2023 and 2024 campaigns, in three of which they held them scoreless.
The Blues’ hopes to make that five on the trot could be dealt a major boost as they get set to welcome back skipper Taylor Regan.
Regan has not played since he limped off injured during the first half of his side’s round three victory against Newcastle Olympic but is a chance of playing on Sunday if he gets through his side’s Thursday night training session without any issues.
New Lambton FC v Cooks Hill United
Alder Park, Sunday 2pm
New Lambton FC coach Shane Pryce is hopeful that the arrival of their second visa player can be the final piece of the puzzle as they prepare to take on Cooks Hill United at Alder Park on Sunday.
Zach Verhoven made his debut earlier in the season and has been one of the Golden Eagles’ best so far, and they are now set to line up with 24-year-old German midfielder Vali Brandis for the first time in front of a home crowd as they continue their pursuit of their first win of the campaign.
New Lambton have looked threatening in their past three games after two lackluster performances to kick off the season and they showed glimpses of brilliance as they opened the scoring in back-to-back games against 2024 grand finalists Broadmeadow and Edgeworth in rounds three and four.
Pryce believed that they would be bolstered by the arrival of Brandis as they look to battle their way off the bottom of the table.
“He’s a central midfielder and about six foot five. He’s trained with us and he looks very composed on the ball,” Pryce said.
“With our youngish side, we probably need that calming and dominant figure in the middle of the park. I think he’s the perfect fit.
“He fit straight into the group and he seems like a genuine hard worker and a bit of a leader.
“I think he’s going to be a welcome addition to our side. We’re holding up the table at the moment so we need a bit of spark and to get some results.”
For Cooks Hill, this game is a chance for someone to stand up and announce themselves as the replacement for the departed Cody Nancarrow up front.
Chris Zoricich’s men have failed to fire since the 2024 NPL NNSW Young Player of the Year departed for Broadmeadow Magic after a 3-1 win in round four, during which he scored two goals and set up the other.
Cooks Hill’s start to the season has been well below what Zoricich was looking for, but they are only four points outside the top five and can potentially narrow that gap on Sunday.
