Match of the Round
Lake Macquarie City FC 0-3 New Lambton FC
New Lambton FC coach Aaron Stedman said his side’s first half performance was their best of the season when they defeated Lake Macquarie City FC 3-0 at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Saturday afternoon.
It did not take long for New Lambton to open the scoring after Lauren Allan found the back of the net in the second minute.
Tara Andrews sliced the ball onto the run of Allan, who charged down the park and into the six-yard box where she wasted no time tapping the ball into the back of the net.
The Golden Eagles pushed to double their lead in the 11th minute when Allan found the ball at her feet with Lake Macquarie City’s goalkeeper Morgan Ross off her line, but a strong back line denied them the opportunity.
Constant attacking pressure from New Lambton paid off in the 31st minute after Cass Davis doubled her side’s lead.
A back heel from Allan found Davis as she ran into the top of the box and launched the ball into the bottom right corner.
Lake Macquarie pushed to lessen the deficit, but the challenge became harder when Indianna Auddino brought Lauren Allan down just inside the box.
Leading goalscorer Tara Andrews stepped up to the penalty spot and calmly slotted the ball into the goal in the 37th minute, sending her side into half-time leading 3-0.
The second half proved to be an end-to-end contest as both sides pushed to add to the scoreboard.
Lakes looked to net their first in the 53rd minute after Emily Loader Weston charged down the right of the park and crossed the ball to Lara Gooch at the top of the box, who sent the ball wide.
Both teams continued to push but failed to capitalise on their opportunities as strong defence from both sides was on show.
A blow came for the Golden Eagles in the 90th minute when Libby Copus-Brown was struck in the head with the ball from close range.
Copus-Brown quickly fell to the ground and remained there being treated by the team's physiotherapist when the final whistle blew.
New Lambton’s strong first half proved to be enough to secure them the 3-0 victory.
“We want as many people to create as many chances as possible to score a goal, and we had multiple players score goals and create chances, so I’m very happy with that,” Stedman said.
“I thought we executed it really well, and it was probably one of our best halves this season, so I’m really pleased.
“I thought we still did well in the second half, but Lakes changed, and they just defended deeper in numbers. They didn’t want to concede any more goals, and it sort of nullified every time we got a chance, and we couldn’t find the combination.
“They always drowned us out to win the ball, but we would win it back quickly. It just turned into one of those games where both teams' tactics cancelled everything out.
“We probably need to work a bit more on combination plays to break them down, but we recycled the ball a lot. I think a few things like technical play and tactics were sort of getting better and showing what we want to do.
“But I think the biggest thing is attitude. We were sort of in crisis mode in recent weeks and I think with the attitude of any player, at any league or any level, if you've got that attitude that you want to play and you want to compete, you get results.
“I thought that the first half showed that’s what it’s all about. We were quicker to the ball; we moved the ball quickly to pace and that’s what it came down to.”
It was Lake Macquarie City’s 10th loss of the season and coach Gabrielle Blanch believed they were simply outclassed.
“We were outclassed by New Lambton in the first half. They just came at us, and it probably took us 45 minutes too long to come up with a response,” Blanch said.
“We talked at half-time about the need for us to be adaptable to what was happening on the pitch and the players need to do that in the moment in the first half and not necessarily wait for that information to come at half-time.
“Obviously, they went out in the second 45 and executed exactly what we spoke about needing to happen. I expect that next weekend and for the remainder of the season that’s something that the players will work on.”
New Lambton sit third on the table, but Newcastle Olympic FC are two points behind in fourth.
They will look to keep the good times rolling when they welcome Adamstown Rosebud JFC to Alder Park on Saturday afternoon.
Lake Macquarie City remained sixth on the table, 14 points out of the top four.
They will be eager to return to winning ways when they go head-to-head with Broadmeadow Magic at Magic Park on Friday night.
Adamstown Rosebud JFC 1-1 Maitland FC
Adamstown Rosebud JFC and Maitland FC could not be separated when the sides drew 1-1 at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Friday night.
Both teams came out firing as they looked to open the scoring for the night.
An early shot by Maitland after the ball was sliced into the box in the eighth minute was denied by Adamstown Rosebud’s goalkeeper Olivia Sneddon.
Adamstown looked to lock in their first goal in the 15th minute, but the lacklustre shot was picked up by goalkeeper Annabella Thornton.
The two teams could not be separated in the first half and went into half-time locked up 0-0.
It was the Magpies who broke the deadlock first through Renee Pountney in the 53rd minute.
Pountney charged the ball into the top of the box, finding Sneddon off her line and calmly slotted the ball into the net.
The Buds responded in the 69th minute through 66th minute substitute Ashleigh Vetta.
The ball was sliced from the middle of the park onto the run of Vetta, who charged into the box, beating Thornton and slotted the ball into an empty net.
Adamstown pushed to steal the lead and secure their first win against the Magpies in season 2025 but were unable to find a second of the evening.
The two teams remained locked up 1-1 when the final whistle blew and were sent home sharing the spoils.
Adamstown will look to build off the momentum gained from taking points off the league leaders when they travel to Alder Park on Saturday afternoon to face New Lambton FC.
Maitland remained at the top of the table but will serve the bye in round 19.
Charlestown Azzurri 4-0 Broadmeadow Magic
Charlestown Azzurri kept the good times rolling when they downed Broadmeadow Magic 4-0 at Lisle Carr Oval on Sunday afternoon.
Azzurri’s Melina Ayres opened the scoring in the 19th minute when she pounced on a deflected Broadmeadow ball and unleashed it into the left of the goal from just inside the box.
Ayres doubled her side’s lead in the 43rd minute after she ran into the right of the box, beat Magic goalkeeper Ayano Kurosawa and slotted the ball into the goal.
It did not take long for Charlestown to score their third of the afternoon after Chloe Cattley received the ball from Ayres as she ran into the box and launched the ball into the top left corner in the 49th minute.
Ayres completed her hattrick in the 82nd minute after she picked up the ball outside the right of the box, manoeuvred her way around Magic’s Cassie Corder and neatly tapped the ball into the bottom corner.
Broadmeadow were unable to claw one back and Azzurri walked away with a 4-0 victory and their ninth unbeaten game.
Charlestown remained second on the table but are three points behind league leaders Maitland FC who serve a bye in round 19.
Azzurri will be eager to make it 10 in a row when they travel to Darling Street Oval to take on Newcastle Olympic on Sunday afternoon.
Magic remained at the bottom of the table and will look for their second win of the season when they host Lake Macquarie City FC at Magic Park on Friday night.
Newcastle Olympic - Bye
