Match of the Round
Maitland FC 3-2 Newcastle Olympic
Maitland FC coach Keelan Hamilton was proud of his side’s mental resilience in their 3-2 thriller win over Newcastle Olympic at Cooks Square Park on Sunday.
After a dominant period of possession, Maitland opened the scoring in the 22nd minute. Co-captain Sophie Stapleford used her pace to burn past her defenders and smash the ball into the back of the net.
The two sides continued to tussle, and the score looked like it would stay unchanged into half time before Olympic equalised in the final kick of the half.
Marion Dunbabin skipped around Maitland’s defence before she offloaded to Jemma House, who chipped the ball into the path of Sophie McDonald. The midfielder outmuscled her defender to hit the ball into an empty goal.
Olympic extended their lead in the 53rd minute with a scrappy goal. House’s strike on goal was saved but the ball was not cleared away by Anabella Thornton and Elodie Dagg pounced and tapped the ball into the goal.
The Magpies clawed one back to make it 2-2 through defender Amy Parkinson. The ball spilled out from the penalty area from a corner kick to Parkinson’s feet, who hit the ball low and hard past the sea of players into the back of the net.
Stapleford scored the winner in the 81st minute with another dangerous strike that dashed along the pitch, past goalkeeper Isabella Whitton and into the bottom right corner of the net.
The Magpies were forced to finish the game with 10 players after Keely Gawthrop was sent off for a late tackle on Dagg in the 83rd minute.
But Maitland held on to secure a crucial three points and continue their unbeaten run against the visitors in three meetings this year.
Hamilton was impressed with the way his side continued to push to get the three points.
“We are really pleased to win the game against Olympic, they are always a tight affair,” Hamilton said.
“I am really proud of our mental resilience and mental application, it was first class. To go ahead, then fall behind and then turn it around to win it was incredible.
“It was a mixed performance. In the first 25 minutes, I thought we deserved our lead, but we lost control in the last 15 minutes of the half, which was disappointing.
“But we got ourselves back into the game.
“The first five to 10 minutes of the second half we were a bit sloppy, but credit to the girls they didn’t drop their heads.”
The Magpies coach also praised how well the players
“I think we adapted really well after the red card,” Hamilton said.
“The reaction from our players didn’t allow Olympic to have a chance when we were down to 10 players.
“It was a shame for Keely, but she will come back stronger from this. I know she and we all are very apologetic to Elodie.
Newcastle Olympic coach Craig Atkins was disappointed with the result and to lose the game after they went ahead in the second half.
“We knew against Maitland that it would be a tough and intense game and today delivered exactly that.”
“We started the game alright and it was very to-and-fro. I thought we started playing well at the back end of the first half. We got ourselves back in the lead but there were a couple of moments that we could have managed a little bit better but we didn't.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t come away with the result.”
But Atkins took a lot of positives to build on from the performance.
“We knocked the football around well and it was pretty to watch,” Atkins said.
“We still have a lot of improvement to go.
“I can’t fault the effort but there were just a couple of moments.
“It’s a tough loss but we bounce back and go again.
Olympic will turn their focus to Wednesday night when they return home to Darling Street Oval to face New Lambton FC in their rescheduled round 10 fixture before the weekend off of the competition.
The Magpies continue to sit second on the table with 21 points and are only two points behind league leaders Broadmeadow Magic with three matches in hand. They will hope to continue their winning ways in the competition when they travel to Taree Zone Field to face Mid Coast FC.
But Hamilton and his side will first switch their attention to this Sunday’s Women’s League Cup final against Magic.
Warners Bay FC 12-0 Charlestown Azzurri
Charlestown Azzurri bounced back in style with a 12-0 demolition of Warners Bay FC at John Street Oval on Sunday afternoon.
The Blues turned things around after a loss to league leaders Broadmeadow Magic to put on a dominant performance that was unanswered by the Panthers.
Sarah Halvorsen opened the scoring in the 4th minute with a hard and low strike into the back of the net.
Jorja Brown doubled Azzurri’s advantage in the 11th minute before Jess Gentle and Kirsten Pearce put their names on the scoresheet to take the score to 4-0 after 20 minutes.
Halvorsen netted her second of the afternoon a minute later before she secured a hat-trick in the 35th minute.
Pearce took the scoreline to 7-0 with a powerful strike from outside the penalty area in the 42nd minute before Gentle struck again one minute later.
The Blues went into the sheds with a remarkable 8-0 advantage over the struggling Panthers.
The goals continued to come for Azzurri in the second half as Janya Fraser scored back-to-back in the 52nd and 53rd minutes.
Khyra Dickey hit the back of the net before substitute Ella Joyce scored the 12th goal of the afternoon and her 12th goal of the season to put the nail in the coffin for the Panthers.
Azzurri remains third on the table but has closed the gap between second-placed Maitland FC to three points. They will look to make it two-from-two when they return home to Lisle Carr Oval to host Newcastle Olympic.
Warners Bay will be desperate to turn their season around after their ninth straight loss from 10 matches. Coach Ryan Swinkels will likely welcome the week break in competition to regroup before they travel to Magic Park to face top-of-the-table side Broadmeadow Magic.
Adamstown Rosebud JFC 2-5 Broadmeadow Magic
Broadmeadow Magic retain their position at the top of the table after defeating Adamstown Rosebud JFC 5-2 on Saturday night at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility.
Magic opened the scoring through Mattiese Loretan in the 13th minute after she nudged the ball into the goal off a corner kick.
Adamstown responded in the 24th minute after a low and hard kick shot from Tori Johnson from outside the penalty area snuck past goalkeeper Stella Morgan’s fingertips and into the bottom left-hand corner.
Lilly-Jane Babic edged her side ahead once again after she used her pace to whip past two Rosebud defenders and slice the ball into the back of the net in the 31st minute.
Babic netted her second of the night just after half time after Rosebud goalkeeper Olivia Sneddon was caught at the top of the penalty area. This allowed Babic to place the ball into an empty goal.
Loretan took the score to 4-1 in the 56th minute after Sneddon’s save from Babic’s shot fell to her feet outside the penalty area. The attacker chipped the ball over the top of all players and into the back of the net.
Adamstown clawed one back in the 69th minute as Johnson got her name on the scoresheet once again with a powerful strike that hit the post and bounced into the goal.
But Magic put the game to bed in the 82nd minute after Babic secured a hat-trick with another run in behind to hit the back of the net.
Broadmeadow will hope to extend their lead at the top when they face Newcastle Olympic in round 12. But they will switch their focus to next Sunday’s Women’s League Cup final match against Maitland FC.
Adamstown will look to use the week break in the competition to regroup before they travel to Alder Park to go head-to-head with New Lambton FC.
New Lambton FC v Mid Coast FC
This match was postponed due to wet weather.