Match of the Round
Lake Macquarie City FC v Newcastle Olympic
Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility, Friday 8pm
Lake Macquarie City FC coach Gabrielle Blanch says her side hopes to create an upset when they go head-to-head with Newcastle Olympic at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Friday night.
Lake Macquarie have not been able to maintain consistent results in their inaugural season with two draws, two losses and one win in their last five matches.
The Roosters sit fifth on the table, 11 points away from Newcastle Olympic and will need a near perfect run home to crack the top four.
Lake Macquarie have been unable to beat Olympic this season with a 5-2 defeat in round two and a 0-0 draw in round nine but aim to ‘punch above their weight’ in the upcoming rounds.
“That's the goal. It's just trying to close that gap between us and fourth place,” Blanch said.
“That really is the question for us now is how close can we get and how can we take the opportunities to cause an upset in the next few rounds where we're coming up against those top four clubs.
“It's just a matter of making sure we continue to punch above our weight and hopefully get a couple of surprise results. I think we've certainly got the ability to do it.
“I think it's just trusting the processes and what we work on during the week at training. We try to play a very positive brand of football, and defensively, we're very sound, and I think our results show that.
“I guess it's just a matter of taking our opportunities as we talk about every week and making sure that we're not just taking the opportunity but creating countless opportunities to be able to finish.”
Blanch believed her side has continued to improve since their opening match and will continue to fight each week.
“From where we started to where we are today, the group has just really continued to impress me,” Blanch said.
“They've taken on board every bit of feedback.
“I feel like we just have a real ability to fight and to match the fight that we need in this competition.”
It has been difficult for any team this season to gain momentum, but Blanch believed they have finally gained consistency.
“In terms of momentum, I'm feeling positive,” Blanch said.
“It's been hard for us to get momentum this year based on the fact that we have two rounds, sometimes three, and then we get a bye or a long weekend.
“It's been really hard to just build good solid momentum. Even though we've only played two in a row, it does feel like we've got that back.
“We are, however, missing quite a few players across the squad, so we're very thin in terms of numbers at the moment.”
Blanch confirmed they will be without Indianna Auddino (injured) as well as Keziah White who moved interstate for work.
Olympic are fourth on the table and will be eager to create a winning streak after they won their first game in four matches when they defeated Broadmeadow Magic 2-0.
They had scored one goal in their last four matches but netted two against Broadmeadow in round 15.
Olympic coach Craig Atkins believed his side had executed football well this year but still needed to find a way to score more.
“I guess in terms of the slump, there was, I guess, a couple of games we wanted to write off there, but our football hasn't been too bad throughout the year,” Atkins said.
“But it's just being more clinical, scoring goals. It was good to get two on last weekend, and then a clean sheet is always nice as well.
“We're still creating lots of opportunities. Just need to keep working hard and put those chances away, that'll help us a lot.
“We believe anyone on our part can score goals. We've got a pretty strong front line there.
“We know how dangerous they [Lake Macquarie] are. If we can build nicely and get them in the right areas, I'm sure we can get a few goals past them if we execute correctly.”
Atkins confirmed everyone is available ahead of round 16.
Maitland FC v New Lambton FC
Cooks Square Park, Saturday 4pm
Maitland FC coach Joe Wright says his side will need to respect their opposition when they host New Lambton FC at Cooks Square Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Magpies bounced back from their first loss of the competition and reclaimed their spot at the top of the table after they defeated Lake Macquarie City FC 1-0 in round 15.
But they would not have been able to do it without their round 16 opponents 3-3 draw with Charlestown Azzurri.
“It was obviously important to continue to pick up points after dropping a couple against [Charlestown] Azzurri,” Wright said.
“But it was a good response from the girls to grind out a 1-0 win against tough players.
“I think you've got to respect all sides in the competition at the moment and obviously, New Lambton have some good players that have joined the midseason, which is fantastic for the league to strengthen and to make a competitive competition.
“But we've just got to treat every team with respect. There’s a lot of good sides in the competition, so we've just got to do our due diligence and prepare correctly.”
The Magpies are only two points ahead of Charlestown Azzurri, but Wright is confident his side are determined to achieve success.
“The girls have goals that they want to achieve and objectives that they want to achieve as well,” Wright said.
“So, they're pretty motivated to work towards the goals of success.”
New Lambton will enter the contest determined for more after a 3-3 draw with Charlestown despite leading 3-1 until the 80th minute.
The Golden Eagles have not been beaten since their round nine defeat at the hands of the Magpies. In that time, they have had four wins and one draw including dominant 5-0 and 6-0 victories.
They have been able to beat the league leaders this season suffering a 3-1 loss in round two and a 2-1 loss in round nine.
New Lambton sit third on the table nine points behind Maitland in first and will look to knock them off the top spot and rectify their previous results.
Coach Aaron Stedmen will be eager to take points from another team above them on the table and continue their five-game unbeaten streak.
Adamstown Rosebud JFC v Broadmeadow Magic
Adamstown Oval, Sunday 4pm
Broadmeadow Magic will look to bounce back when they travel to Adamstown Oval to take on Adamstown Rosebud JFC on Sunday afternoon.
Broadmeadow will enter the contest off the back of two disappointing results after a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle Olympic in round 15 and a 5-0 defeat to New Lambton FC in round 13.
Magic sit at the bottom of the table on four points with one win but coach Jason Konjarski will hope his side can bounce back and secure their second win of the season.
Each time these two sides have met this season it has been a thrilling affair with a 4-2 victory for Magic in round two and a 2-0 victory for Adamstown in round nine.
Adamstown will enter the match after serving the bye in round 15 and will be eager to return to winning ways after a 1-0 defeat to Lake Macquarie City FC in round 14.
The Buds sit sixth on the table but are 11 points outside of the top four, they will look to repeat their round nine victory and hope to claw their way into finals football.
They will be without coach Martin Slade after he was served a one match suspension for yellow card accumulation.
Charlestown Azzurri - Bye
