Match of the Round
Newcastle Olympic v Adamstown Rosebud
Darling Street Oval, Monday 3pm
Two of the youngest teams in the competition come face to face in this week's Match of the Round.
Newcastle Olympic fought back to earn a 3-2 victory last week against Cooks Hill but coach Joel Griffiths sees a lot more potential in his young guns who have an average age of 21.
"We haven't even come close to our best football this year so we need to continue to improve collectively," Griffiths said.
"[We don’t have] the best record against Adamstown.
"[Marcus] Duncan is still out and [Luke] Rutledge is 50-50.”
For 75 minutes the youthful Adamstown Rosebud held out league leaders Charlestown Azzurri and had chances to score an upset last weekend.
Rosebud coach David Rosewarne reflected on the Azzurri match as he prepared for this week's encounter.
"No injuries from the Charlestown game. A few tired bodies but we have extra time to prep for Olympic," Rosewarne said.
"We wanted to try to get at Charlestown and shorten their game which we did well for the majority of the game. But we didn't take our chances in the first half and early in the second half, which is what we need to do against a squad with the depth of Charlestown.
"Olympic have a solid squad with a good mix of quality, youth and experience.
"They are generally organised, seem to understand their roles and have players in key positions that can hurt the opposition.
"Our boys are better understanding their roles and continue to have a great desire to be proactive in our play, which we will look to take into the Olympic game.
"We will have some tweaks to our game plan and if we execute well then at the very least it will be an entertaining game.”
Valentine FC v Weston Workers FC
Hunter Sports Centre, Friday 8pm
After last weekend's physical 2-2 draw against New Lambton, Valentine coach Adam Hughes is monitoring squad availability.
"Some players are recovering well, others are taking longer after the weekend," Hughes said.
"We have depth within the squad. I have the belief in any player that steps on the field for us they can carry out their roles.
"It's a quicker turnaround than normal so will look to refresh players and have prepared for Friday.”
Weston Workers have had a solid start to the season and are in second place on 10 points.
Weston Workers coach Kew Jaliens continues the building process on how he wants to play football.
"Approaching this game as all other games," Jaliens said.
"We're still on progress and work one game at a time week by week.
"We want to play football and from what I've seen Valo wants to play as well so that should be good. All players are fit for the game.”
New Lambton FC v Edgeworth FC
Alder Park, Saturday 2.30pm
Last week's torrential rain washed out Edgeworth's fixture and now coach Peter McGuinness is raring to against a rejuvenated New Lambton.
"Looking forward to playing again after the wash out last weekend," McGuinness said.
"We have a few injuries within the squad but hopefully they can improve before the weekend.
"It's a big game for us, as is each week but we are very focused on putting in a big performance.
"New Lambton seem to have settled into the competition now and have picked up points so we know this will be no easy task.”
It has been an incredible rollercoaster for New Lambton.
After a 9-1 demolition by Maitland in round two New Lambton have shown their quality and bounced back with three matches undefeated scoring one win and two draws.
It is a continual building process for New Lambton boss Thomas Davies.
"The club and players are looking forward to the game against Edgeworth this weekend," Davies said.
"It is another opportunity for us to build on the performances from recent weeks.
"We will see how everyone pulls up after Thursday's training regarding team selection for this weekend.”
Lake Macquarie City v Lambton Jaffas
Macquarie Field, Sunday 2.30pm
The wet weather has wreaked havoc on Lake Macquarie City with coach Steve Piggott left scratching his head how to get players on the pitch.
"Wet weather, postponed games and limited training are all hurdles to overcome at the moment," Piggott said.
"No injuries, we have a full squad to choose from. Looking forward to making a positive performance.”
Lambton Jaffas are riding high after an impressive 3-1 win against Broadmeadow Magic last weekend.
The reigning champions continue to gather momentum and get their campaign back on track after a catalogue of injuries.
Riley McNaughton made an impact off the bench last week and is fit to start against Lake Macquarie City this week.
Annoyingly for Lambton Jaffas coach David Tanchevski it is another case of one in and one out.
"We get Josh Benson back but lose Kale Bradbery [to suspension]," Tanchevski said.
"Just trying to build on the performance from last week and tweak a few little things we can do better.
"Our defence has been very solid and we will continue working on combination play in our front third,
this has been hard because of lack of availability through injuries and having to play a different front line each game this season.”
Charlestown Azzurri v Cooks Hill United
Lisle Carr Oval, Sunday 2.30pm
Charlestown Azzurri are on a roll winning five from five and boast the best defensive record in the competition conceding a miserly two goals in five matches.
But seasoned Azzurri coach James Pascoe knows things can change quickly and was not getting carried away.
"It's been a good start but that's all it is," Pascoe said.
"We are only a quarter of the way through the season, so we won't get ahead of ourselves.
"For the first time this season we have a full squad to choose from for the match against Cooks Hill who will provide us with another stern test this weekend.”
Cooks Hill United started promisingly last week against Newcastle Olympic but their performance tailed off in the second half.
Cooks Hill can score goals and are capable of defeating anyone but it will require 90 minutes of disciplined football to stop the league leaders.
Coach Chris Zoricich is cognisant of the threat the opposition pose.
"We will be approaching the same as any other game, focusing on our game plan and trying to continue to improve each time we play," Zoricich said.
"Obviously we know Azzurri are a very good team.
"They have great experienced players and good squad depth hence why they are the competition leaders. We will have to be at our best on Sunday to compete with them.
"We had a very good first half versus Olympic but fell away in the second half so will be looking at trying to sustain our good play from that first half for longer periods.”
Maitland FC v Broadmeadow Magic
Cooks Square Park, Monday 3.30pm
Competition heavyweights Maitland and Broadmeadow Magic both lost weekend and will be looking to bounce back at Cooks Square Park on Monday afternoon.
In a very tight match, Maitland went down 1-0 to Weston Workers in their derby clash last week.
The reigning premiers have been solid but have missed out narrowly three times this season with three losses and one 9-1 win.
Broadmeadow Magic are in third position on nine points after going down 3-1 to Lambton Jaffas last weekend.
