PRELIMINARY FINAL
BROADMEADOW MAGIC 1-3 NEWCASTLE OLYMPIC
Newcastle Olympic booked their spot in the inaugural NPL Women’s NNSW grand final after defeating Broadmeadow Magic 3-1 at Magic Park on Saturday night.
Olympic went into the game full of confidence after defeating Charlestown Azzurri 3-2 in the minor semi-final in a come from behind thriller.
Broadmeadow appeared to have a slight edge over Olympic in the first half but to no avail, with both sides heading into the break scoreless.
Olympic came out firing in the second half, with Jemma House opening the scoring.
House made it 1-0 in the 51st minute before grabbing her second of the night in the 63rd minute to give her side a 2-0 advantage.
Georgia Amess made it a 3-0 goal difference in the 73rd minute with an assist from Chloe Hinde, all but wrapping the game up for the visitors.
Magic got one back in the 85th minute through substitute Emily Loader Weston but it was too little too late for the home side.
“Obviously we’re over the moon with the result,” Olympic coach Paul Devitis said.
“It was a difficult game. I think both teams really pushed each other as hard as they could for the full 90 minutes and no one gave up in the whole game which was good to see.”
Following a battle for possession and opportunities in the first half, Devitis said stepping up their intensity heading into the second half made all the difference.
“We had a good chat at half-time about really stepping up the intensity in the second half and trying to get a few more balls into the box and we managed to do that really well and scored a couple of nice goals,” Devitis said.
“I think that desire in the second half was probably what really helped us get over the line in the end.”
Finishing second on the table and having defeated Olympic in their three meetings throughout the season, Magic headed into the match as favourites to meet Warners Bay in the grand final.
The underdog status did not deter Devitis or his squad, instead spurring them on to get the win.
“It’s always good to go in as an underdog, I think,” he said.
“Not many people were expecting us to beat Charlestown and Broadmeadow and to be honest, Magic probably deserved to be the favourites. They had a great season and fought Warners Bay all the way to the last round for the premiership.
“They’ve been an incredible team for the last three years and deserve a lot of respect.”
Despite heading into the game confident, a qualifying final against Broadmeadow was never going to be easy but Devitis knew his side could get the job done.
“I was confident going into the game with the vibe in the group being super positive all week,” Devitis said.
“We talked about the importance of going into half-time either in the lead or at a draw and once we regrouped and talked about scoring goals, I think I had that gut feeling that the girls were going to go out there and do something special in the second half.”
It was not all good news for Olympic though with captain Laura Hall dislocating her thumb in a challenge early in the second half. It was popped back into place and strapped during a brief period on the sidelines before she continued to play on.
Both sides also had players missing from their ranks. Olympic were without the injured Alesha Clifford (ankle), Zoe Burnley (ACL), goalkeeper Natalie Wiseman (thumb) and Jade McAtamney (overseas).
Magic were missing midfielders Bella Carlisle (suspended), Nadja Squires (ankle) and Jannali Hunter who failed to pass a concussion test. Lucy Jerram was also forced from the field in the second half with a knee injury.
In the end it was a matter of taking chances that proved the difference.
“I thought the game was a pretty even contest,” Broadmeadow coach Jake Curley said.
“Olympic took their chances which made the difference in the end. Congratulations to Paul and the Olympic team.”
Olympic will now meet premiers Warners Bay at No. 2 Sportsground on Sunday where the two sides will battle it out for the championship.
The game will be a repeat of the last grand final played in 2020 which was won 3-2 by Olympic.