Match of the Round
Charlestown Azzurri 4-1 Lake Macquarie City FC
Lake Macquarie City FC coach Pete Preston took many positives from his side’s 4-1 defeat at Lisle Carr Oval on Sunday afternoon.
The Roosters showed glimpses of promise but were unable to topple James Pascoe’s experienced side.
Rene Ferguson opened the scoring for the Blues in the 15th minute. Captain Nigel Boogard turned on his defender to cross the ball into the penalty area and onto Ferguson’s outreaching foot, tapping the ball into the back of the net.
Boogard switched from provider to goal-scorer in the 28th minute, sliding onto the end of a header from teammate Taylor Regan to knock the ball past Isaac Nyman.
Less than 10 minutes later, Azzurri tripled their advantage through Harrison Fendo. Dean Pettit sent a bullet cross into the path of Fendo, who was standing unmarked inside the penalty area and made no mistake in slicing the ball into the net.
The Roosters had a small resurgence at the start of the second half, scoring in the 48th minute and nearly netting a second just minutes later.
Lakes played a corner kick low and hard to Marcus Field who stood at the corner of the penalty area and curled the ball past Azzurri’s defensive line and into the back of the net.
But Azzurri substitute and new recruit Tyran Cousins put the game to bed in the 74th minute, running in behind his defenders and striking the ball past Nyman.
Preston was proud of his young side’s efforts and their ability to put one past Charlestown’s experienced defensive unit.
“It was a good game and we tried really hard to take it to them but made some silly mistakes defensively,’ Preston said.
“We hung in there we conceded another couple of goals... We got back into it early in the second half and had some good opportunities.
“It’s always nice when a set play comes off. We tried to give the players options and variety to keep Azzurri on their toes.
“It’s always good for the confidence that they can score goals at this level.”
Lakes has had arguably some of the toughest opponents to start the season, but Lakes' coach believes that it has helped to develop his young squad.
“Credit to the boys, the start of the season has been tough but it has been a really good test for the younger players,” Preston said.
“Now we need to stay resilient and see if we can keep pushing hard.
“We need to keep the group galvanised and stay together. We are a young team and there will be multiple things that don’t go our way... we aren't going to blow teams away.
“The boys have worked really hard and have done well but we know that we aren’t where we need to be but hopefully we can continue to work hard and not lose confidence.”
Charlestown’s coach was happy with the result for his side and was able to show the depth of this squad, giving some fresh faces a chance on the pitch.
“It was a good performance,” Pascoe said.
“I took the opportunity to start Kieran Hayes and Jackson Hayes as they had not started in the first two rounds. It was nice to be able to have that depth to make those changes and still have a strong performance.
“All things considered, it was a very professional performance. We controlled the game largely with the ball and came through it unscathed.
But Pascoe still has high expectations for his team and hopes they can continue to improve as the season progresses.
“We can still improve,” Pascoe said.
“We spoke at half time about how many times Lakes were able to enter our last third which was a few times too many.
“We know we are about to head into a run of games that are going to get tougher week on week. I think that is one area to tidy up a little bit.
Charlestown will look to make it four wins from four when they travel to take on Cooks Hill United FC on Saturday.
Lakes will be eager to pick up their first points of the season when they go face-to-face with Valentine FC on Saturday night at Croudace Bay Complex.
Edgeworth FC 0-2 Lambton Jaffas
Edgeworth FC coach Peter McGuinness praised his side’s efforts in their third match in eight days despite going down 2-0 to Lambton Jaffas Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles were unable to keep up with the reigning premiers and champions, going down to ten men early in the second half.
Bailey Newton opened the scoring in the 12th minute, with a spectacular strike that launched into the back of the net.
Edgworth lost defender Aaron Oppedisano in the 48th minute when he was shown a straight red card for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity.
Patrick Bond doubled the score and secured all three points for Lambton in the 53rd minute. The midfielder chipped the ball from outside the penalty area over the head of Ben Conway.
McGuinness was proud of the resilience shown by his team but identified areas that they could improve upon.
“I thought the boys performed well considering it’s our third game in eight days against a very experienced side on a warm afternoon,” McGuinness said.
“I thought we had some really good moments during the game even though we played with 10 men for almost the entire second half.
“Finding the net will definitely be a focus this week so we get some rewards for the effort being put in by a good group of players.”
Edgeworth will travel to Magic Park to take on Broadmeadow Magic on Sunday and will be looking to turn things around.
The Jaffas will want to keep their momentum going when they return home to take on Weston on Saturday.
New Lambton FC 1-2 Maitland FC
Maitland FC have secured their first three points of the season, coming back in stoppage time to defeat New Lambton 2-1 at Alder Park on Saturday afternoon.
After a slow start to the season, the Magpies came flying out of the gates, eager to kick-start their season with a win. But despite creating multiple goal-scoring opportunities the score remained 0-0 at half-time.
New Lambton temporarily shifted momentum in their favor at the start of the second stanza, scoring in the 53rd minute. Maitland was unable to clear a corner quickly with the ball pinballing between players before Joel Caldwell turned and hit the ball while falling to the ground up and into the back of the net.
All three points were in New Lambton’s grasp until the 93rd minute when Maitland was awarded a penalty for handball that saw Josh Piddington receive his second yellow card and was sent from the pitch.
Captain Braedyn Crowley calmly converted from the spot, hitting the ball low and hard into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.
The Magpies swooped in to snatch all three points from New Lambton, after Crowley scored the winner in the 95th minute of play off a free kick.
New Lambton will be desperate to bounce back when they take on Adamstown Rosebud FC, while Maitland travels to Darling Street Oval to face Newcastle Olympic.
Adamstown Rosebud FC 0-3 Valentine FC
Valentine FC made it three wins on the trot after defeating Adamstown Rosebud FC 3-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Despite multiple chances, Rosebud was unable to capatlise on their opportunities allowing Valentine to come out on top.
The Phoenix opened the scoring in the final minutes of the first half with a smart one-two play between Nicholas Martinelli and Sakeel Balfour Brown to allow Martinelli to get in behind the Adamstown defence and knock the ball into the back of the net.
Valentine doubled their advantage in the 80th minute with substitute Mohammad Hossein Ellahi heading the ball into the goal after Adamstown was unable to clear a corner kick.
Riley Aunger secured allthree points for the Phoenix in the 91st minute after Nick Cowburn chipped the ball over the Adamstown defence and to the youngster's feet who hit the ball on the half-volley and into the back of the net.
Things went from bad to worse for Adamstown after Joshua Haines was shown a straight red card and sent from the field for a dangerous tackle on Nicholas King in the 94th minute.
Adamstown will hope to bounce back when they host New Lambton, while Valentine returns home to face Lake Macquarie.
Cooks Hill United FC 3-4 Broadmeadow Magic
Cooks Hill United FC was unable to turn things around, going down 3-4 to Broadmeadow Magic in a goal scoring thriller.
Cookers responded to their slow starts in the first two rounds with a goal in the first minute of the match against Magic.
Cody Nancarrow capatlised on a horrible passing error from Magic’s goalkeeper Lewis Alvavrez and slotted the ball into the back of the net.
Magic made it level in the 16th minute, with a team goal that saw William Ingram tap the ball into the goal.
Cooks Hill edged out ahead three minutes later when Nancarrow netted his second of the afternoon, slicing the ball between the Magic defender and Alvarez’s legs.
But Magic’s men responded again two minutes later to even the score after Bailey Wells hit a fantastic strike from outside the penalty area and into the back of the net.
Broadmeadow finally edged ahead just before half-time, with Wells curling the ball into the penalty area and onto the head of Jayden Stewardson who nodded the ball into the goal.
Cooks Hill continued to fight in the second half and equalised in the 47th minute. Kai Bradley took a long-range strike that hit the woodwork before Nancarrow hit in the rebounded ball, securing his first hat-trick of the season.
It looked like the points would be shared between the two sides, but Magic was snatched all three up in the final minute of regulation time.
Cooks Hill’s goalkeeper Daniel Eisenhauer made a strong save to a shot by Wells but the ball was only cleared into the path of substitute Tom Parkes, who made no mistake in smashing the ball into the back of the net.
Chris Zoricich’s side will continue to search for their first points of the season when they host Charlestown Azzurri next Saturday before Magic go head-to-head with Edgeworth on Sunday.
Weston Workers FC 0-1 Newcastle Olympic
Weston Workers FC suffered their first defeat of the season, going down 1-0 to Newcastle Olympic on Sunday afternoon.
It was a tight contest between the two teams with play running from end to end. But it was Olympic who capitalised on their chances midway through the second half and secured all three points.
Weston was reduced to 10 men in the 65th minute after Angelo Calfo was shown a second yellow card for the afternoon for a dangerous high boot that struck the face of Olympic’s Archie Flynn.
Olympic finally found the back of the net through Lachlan Griffiths in the 67th minute. Jye Rodway came screaming up the field from the backline and crossed the ball into the penalty area which hit Giffiths' chest before rolling into the goal.
But Olympic were forced to play the final minutes of the match with one less man after Joseph Langlois was sent off for a handball in the penalty area that stopped a goal-scoring opportunity.
Weston will be eager to bounce back when they travel to Np.2 Sportsground to take on reigning champions Lambton Jaffas, while Olympic return home in hope to secure another three points when they host Maitland FC.