Match of the Round
Maitland FC 1-2 Weston Bears FC
Weston Bears coach Damian Zane has praised his side’s attitude in overcoming injuries and a disrupted preparation to win a bruising El Clasicoal derby clash 2-1 over Maitland FC at Cooks Square Park on Saturday night.
The derby lived up to the hype in East Maitland, with 11 yellow cards and one red card handed out between the two sides.
In the opening exchanges, neither side tried to force the advantage as they sized each other up ahead of upping the momentum.
But as the first half wore on, Weston began to threaten more at both ends of the field, as the Magpies struggled to establish structure.
A stunning save from Weston goalkeeper Gerard Roebuck was quickly followed by a breakthrough at the other end, as the Bears struck in stoppage time. Connor Evans picked out striker Brock Beveridge who sent the visitors into the break with a 1-0 lead.
Maitland upped the pace in the second half to catch the visitors off guard and as Weston responded, the contest turned into a frantic end-to-end battle.
The Bears doubled their lead in the 62nd minute after Chris Hatfield cut the ball back to an unmarked Beveridge in front of goal, who wasted no time to tap it into the back of the net.
Maitland nearly pulled one back in the 70th minute through a brilliant Luke Corcoran strike that hit the woodwork, but the Magpies struggled to maintain pressure.
In the 82nd minute, Lachlan Reus received his second yellow card for a tackle on Beveridge, seeing the hosts down a player for the rest of the match.
Only three minutes later, Magpies substitute Isaac Collins pulled one back for the hosts. But after five minutes of stoppage time, Maitland couldn’t force the draw.
The Bears’ performance was a major boost for Zane and his coaching staff, who had navigated a change in head coach and injuries to Dom Archbold, George Stephens and others in the lead-up to the clash.
“It’s a tough place to go,” Zane said.
“The second half, they really came at us and we weathered that storm. Good teams get through the tough patches. There’s still stuff to work on, but overall, we’re pretty happy.
“I knew the players were going to have to give 90 minutes; it was a superb effort. If you see behind the scenes, it was a pretty disrupted [preparation] after the first game.
“You have to have that togetherness and this group has it. The attitude, the willingness to get in there, help each other out.
“I think they’re hungry to win and that’s a good sign in a group.”
Magpies coach Adam Hughes believed his side improved on the week before, but the loss served as a valuable lesson.
“I thought we played some very good football. We were better than we were the week before,” Hughes said.
“There were a lot of positive takeaways apart from not walking away with the three points. I felt at the end that we could’ve walked away with a point, which would have been a fair enough reflection considering we went to ten men.
“They [Weston] are good on transition with the speed they have.
“With every action, there is always a consequence of some sort if it doesn’t go right. We had a couple of good chances earlier where I felt we should have put one away.
“[Despite the loss] we don’t change from anything that we’re doing. We’re going in the right direction, the only thing that’s not coming with it at the moment is the points on the table. All we look to do is do what we’re doing better.”
The Magpies will head to Blacksmiths Oval next Saturday afternoon to face Belmont Swansea United FC, while the Bears return home to welcome Charlestown Azzurri FC to Hunter City Motor Group Stadium on the same day.
Charlestown Azzurri FC 1-2 Newcastle Olympic FC
Newcastle Olympic FC’s coach Michael Bolch lauded his side’s defensive resilience as they bounced back from a tough opening round with a 2-1 win over Charlestown Azzurri at Lisle Carr Oval on Sunday.
Fresh off a big loss to Weston Bears, Olympic hit the ground running with midfielder Wil Southcombe benefiting from a favourable bounce of the ball off a free kick to open the visitors’ account in the 12th minute.
Azzurri regathered well to ask plenty of questions of a composed Olympic defence but couldn’t find a way through, with the score remaining 1-0 at half-time.
The hosts turned to their bench in the second half, making four changes in ten minutes as they looked to try and find an equaliser.
But Olympic withstood the pressure and were rewarded in the 75th minute when a long-range kick saw substitute striker Yuhei Sato fire the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal.
Charlestown pressed hard to claw their way back into the contest and found a breakthrough in the 82nd minute, when a pinpoint cross picked out Matthew Cahill to score.
It proved to be a consolation goal, as Olympic’s defence proved strong enough to hold the hosts out by full-time.
Bolch gave plenty of praise to the input of his bench and his goal scorers but was most impressed with the side’s defensive resilience after being exposed by Weston last week.
“We were pretty poor defensively last week,” Bolch said.
“We did a fair bit of work on our defensive structures and getting players behind the ball, which I thought we did well today.
“After last week, it was more about our attitude, while it might not have been pretty today, it was about getting three points.
“We’ve had nine new players come to the squad this year, we’re still learning [our combinations] with a lot of young players, I think we only have five players over 25 in the group. It’s a learning process.
“[Southcombe] could be a 15-goal-a-year striker. You can’t put an old head on young shoulders. Work rate, brilliant. He gets into some really good areas.
“With Yuhei, technically, very gifted. We have got a lot of depth on the bench, and I’m expected to get a lot of points [there], winning games for us this year.”
Olympic will return home for the first time this year when they host Adamstown Rosebud FC at Darling Street Oval next Sunday.
Charlestown will have a six-day turnaround, heading on the road for the first time this year when they head to Hunter City Motor Group Stadium to play table leaders Weston on Saturday.
Adamstown Rosebud FC 1-3 Kahibah FC
Kahibah FC put a disappointing opening week firmly behind them as they clinched their maiden victory in the NPL NNSW competition with a 3-1 result over Adamstown Rosebud FC at Adamstown Oval on Friday night.
The competition’s newcomers showcased what made their attack so dangerous in the HIT106.9 Northern League One last year, with all three goals scored in a ruthless ten-minute period in the first half, shutting the Buds out by half-time.
After an evenly matched opening half hour, several set-piece moves from the Rams combined with a yellow card to Buds’ midfielder Ryan Rooke saw momentum swing in the visitors’ favour.
The momentum was rewarded in the 31st minute, with a corner seeing Rams’ defender Baden Mehrton score his side’s first NPL NNSW first grade goal through a well-directed header.
The Rams did not have to wait long for their second as only four minutes later, Billy Eick caught the Buds’ defence out of position through a brilliant run, lobbed the ball over goalkeeper Hunter Kemenade finding the back of the net off the crossbar to extend the visitors’ lead.
The Rams made the mountain even higher to climb for the hosts in the 38th minute, with Eick catching the Buds’ defence out of line again thanks to a brilliant clearance kick from goalkeeper Isaac Quinn.
Eick navigated past Kemenade and delivered a pass to his teammate Jackson Burston, who outpaced the scrambling defence. The Rams’ striker calmly converted, making it 3-0 just before half-time.
Adamstown would ask plenty of questions in the second half, but it would take until the 83rd minute for them to finally trouble Kahibah, with skipper Dino Fajkovic taking advantage of a favourable bounce off the posts to score a consolation goal.
The result and much improved performance will do wonders for Kahibah’s confidence, with the newcomers returning home next week to face Edgeworth Eagles next Friday.
Adamstown will get a much-needed nine-day turnaround before they head to Darling Street Oval to play Newcastle Olympic FC next Sunday.
Broadmeadow Magic 2-0 Valentine FC
Reigning champions Broadmeadow Magic got their season back on track, with a goal in each half and a solid defensive display enough to see off a youthful Valentine FC side 2-0 at Magic Park on Friday night.
A seesawing contest in the first half hour saw both sides create plenty of chances, but it wouldn’t be until the closing stages of the first half that results started to show for Magic.
A brilliant through-ball from Thomas Beecham to Ezra Palombini allowed Luis Lara Delgado to capitalise just before half-time, giving Broadmeadow a narrow 1-0 lead as they headed down the tunnel.
As fireworks from the Newcastle Show blared away in the background, Valentine came out firing in the second half, trying to catch the hosts napping and land an equaliser.
Magic weathered the attack and extended their lead in the 69th minute when a ricocheting long-range pass bounced off a Valentine defender, catching goalkeeper Brodie Volkiene out of position and landing favourably at the feet of Palombini to score with the goal wide open.
Despite both sides emptying their benches in the final 20 minutes, it would be a margin too big for the Phoenix to come back from.
Broadmeadow will now turn its attention to a grand final rematch when they travel to face Lambton Jaffas at Arthur Edden Oval next Saturday.
Valentine will return home desperate to get their first win of the season when they welcome Cooks Hill United FC to Croudace Bay Complex next Friday.
Lambton Jaffas 2-2 Edgeworth Eagles
After both sides scored massive results in round one, Lambton Jaffas FC and Edgeworth Eagles FC couldn’t be separated after an entertaining Saturday afternoon of football at Arthur Edden Oval.
The hosts struck first after 20 minutes, as a brilliant pass from Archie Finn set up Mitchell Rooke, leaving Eagles goalkeeper Ben Conway flat-footed.
But the Eagles worked their way back into the match, with their pressure resulting in a penalty in the box in stoppage time for a handball off Jaffa defender Lawson Weeks.
Jarrod McKechnie successfully converted the chance and sent the sides down the tunnels locked up 1-1.
Both outfits turned to their benches in the second half to try and break the deadlock, and Jaffas substitute Bailey Newton did so in the 72nd minute, pouncing on a miscommunication with Conway and his defence to score with the goal wide open.
The hosts failed to hold onto their slender lead after a brilliant move by Eagles defender Tyson Jackson sent the visitors surging forward.
Their set piece proved decisive once again, as Reece McManus met a pinpoint Aaron Niyonkuru cross with a header, scoring the equaliser the Eagles needed.
Despite a late surge from Jaffas in extra time, the Eagles’ defence would hold firm, with the sides sharing the spoils.
Edgeworth will have a short turnaround, heading to Fred Wright Oval to take on Kahibah FC next Friday.
Jaffas will prepare for a grand final rematch, welcoming Broadmeadow Magic to Arthur Edden Oval next Saturday.
Belmont Swansea United FC 2-1 Cooks Hill United FC
Belmont Swansea United FC continued their strong start to the year, edging out a dangerous Cooks Hill United FC 2–1 in a hard-fought clash at Blacksmiths Oval.
With BelSwans celebrating Old Boys Day, both sides started the match trading shot for shot in the first half hour.
BelSwans striker Joe Kable looked to have the side's first goal in the 33rd minute off a corner, before being ruled as offside.
But the hosts broke the deadlock just before half-time, as a brilliant long-range kick from Quinton Phillips-Tapsell allowed Kable to set striker Andrew McGee in space. The American then produced a superb finish, giving BelSwans a 1-0 lead.
Cookers pushed the offence early in the second half, with Daniel Clements and Kai Bradley proving a handful in the midfield for the hosts.
BelSwans defence remained unbreached early in the second half, with Cookers having six shots off target in front of goal.
Belmont Swansea striker Marco Gueli found space multiple times on the counterattack but missed a difficult opportunity in the 80th minute that could have sealed the game.
But in the 89th minute Gueli would not miss a second time, as the BelSwans defence picked off a Cooks Hill freekick and sent it long, the striker doing the rest of the work and getting it past the keeper to lock three points in for the hosts.
Cookers would manage a consolation goal from midfielder Stephen Hoyle in stoppage time, but the visitors ran out of time to find an equaliser.
BelSwans will look to continue their winning start next Saturday when they host Maitland at home, while Cooks Hill United will face a short turnaround, heading to Croudace Bay Complex next Friday to face Valentine.