Match of the Round
Newcastle Olympic v Maitland FC
Darling Street Oval, Saturday 3pm
Newcastle Olympic coach Neil Owens says he wants to see his side work on the simple things when they go head-to-head with league leaders Maitland FC at Darling Street Oval on Saturday.
Olympic locked in their first win of the season in round two but served the bye the following week. Returning from their week off they faced a determined Broadmeadow Magic and went down 3-1.
But rather than the bye upsetting momentum, Owens believed it was the simple things that let his side down.
“If you're meant to be playing first grade, you’ve got to be ready, whether it's Tuesday night or a week off or Sunday at 8 o'clock, it doesn't matter you’ve got to be ready,” Owens said.
“I don't think that's an excuse. They train so well and then they're not performing on the weekend, so that's a bit of a worry.
“But we just need to play more games and keep on keeping on.
“The style was there, but just a simple pass never made it. The composure was there, but the technique of the final pass just never made it, so that was pretty disappointing.
“It's the simple things that’s been letting us down.”
Olympic have recorded two losses and one win but have only found the back of the net four times across three matches while conceding seven.
Owens said he wants to see his side be courageous on Saturday but understands the only way they can improve is by simply being on the pitch.
“It's about being a bit braver in the top third of the pitch. Being more expressive and just a bit braver up that area to score, to get the shot and to get the cross. That'll take the pressure off the back line,” Owens said.
“We've got young players but the only way they're going to get better is to be exposed to senior football. The commitment is there to get these girls up to speed.
“One of my favourite sayings is ‘change to a new change’, so they just need to keep on working hard. It’s about being exposed by playing more games and then sorting it out on the pitch.”
Maitland FC enters the contest as one of two undefeated teams in the competition and sit at the top of the table.
Across their three matches the Magpies have found the back of the net 14 times and have conceded just one.
But Maitland coach Ben Horgan is keeping a level head, recognising that his team can’t afford to take any opponent lightly and must stick to the approach that’s been delivering results.
“We just look at who's the next opponent and try to prepare as best we can and make sure we're ready to go,” Horgan said.
“It's still early days and even looking at Olympic this week, I know last week they didn't get the result, but thinking in terms of their season, they had a stop start beginning with a game, a bye and then another game.
“So, no one's really been able to get into a rhythm yet and we're expecting it will be another tough game.
“We just need more of the same mentality to get on the front foot early, to get the ball on the ground and play. We need to move the ball at speed and just to work off the ball, to make forward runs, to break lines and to press aggressively in the moments when we lose the ball.
“I think Natalie O'Driscoll, for example, has been fantastic for that, you see her movement off the ball is just so direct and aggressive. As soon as she can see Elodie, Ned [Sophie Nenadovic] or any of our midfielders ready to play a forward pass she's just gone and she's breaking lines and it takes it out of you playing that style of football.
“So, it's not a problem if you can't last 90 minutes doing that as long as we've got people ready to step in when the time comes and pick up where they left off.”
Broadmeadow Magic v New Lambton FC
Magic Park, Sunday 3pm
Broadmeadow Magic coach Jason Konjarski says he wants his side to remain undefeated when they welcome New Lambton FC to Magic Park on Sunday afternoon.
Magic recorded draws in their first two matches of the season and locked in their first victory when they downed Newcastle Olympic 3-1 in round four.
They sit alongside Maitland FC as the only two undefeated sides in the competition.
“We needed that win to get over the couple of draws where we'd maybe given them up and to get that win against a team [Newcastle Olympic] that's traditionally in the top four was very positive,” Konjarski said.
“It should be a good game. We're going to get them off the bye [New Lambton], so I don't know if that'll be a good thing or a bad thing.
“It could have knocked their momentum off, it could have been a week for them to refresh.
I’m looking forward to the battle between Tara [Andrews] and Meg [Janikowski], I think that'll be a good battle.
“We're undefeated and we want to stay that way.”
At the beginning of the season Konjarski wanted his side to showcase the pride they had in wearing the Broadmeadow Magic badge.
Konjarski now believes that his squad's never give up attitude goes hand in hand with that pride.
“They’re obviously a talented bunch of footballers, but I think when you’ve got that mentality that it’s all about hard work and winning at all costs, it’s starting to show,” Konjarski said.
“To give up two leads was disappointing, but Dean [Cook, assistant coach] set the girls a challenge against Olympic to score first and go into half-time with a clean sheet which the girls achieved and then went on to win the game.
“I think we grew, especially bringing Tori [Johnson] on. Being able to bring her on with a bit of strike up the top allowed us to go forward still, so to be able to bring that strike off the bench and utilise that was very positive.”
Konjarski confirmed it will be an unchanged lineup against New Lambton.
New Lambton enters the clash after serving the bye in round four and will be hopeful the weekend off hasn’t halted their momentum.
The Golden Eagles have recorded two wins and one loss this season, including a dominant 10-0 victory.
They bounced back from a 7-1 loss to Maitland in round two by downing Adamstown Rosebud JFC 3-1 before the break.
New Lambton will be determined to replicate their two victories against Broadmeadow, but they will need to be ready from the start, as their opponents are averaging two goals per game.
Charlestown Azzurri FC v Lake Macquarie City FC
Lisle Carr Oval, Sunday 5pm
Lake Macquarie City FC will look to bounce back from their first loss of the season when they travel to Lisle Carr Oval on Sunday afternoon to take on Charlestown Azzurri FC.
The Roosters suffered their first defeat of the season in round four at the hands of league leaders Maitland FC with the loss putting an end to their undefeated run.
Lakes suffered three injuries throughout the match, and they will be hopeful captain Brooke Summers, Alyssa Togo-Paragalli and Emily Loader Weston will be fit to return on Sunday.
As the Roosters went down to nine players to finish the match, they were trailing 4-0 and coach Gabrielle Blanch will be confident that her side can enter this weekend with full intensity from the get-go and return to their winning ways.
Charlestown Azzurri secured their first point of the season in round four after a 2-2 draw with Adamstown Rosebud JFC.
Azzurri also netted their first goal of the season in the 35th minute of the match before they doubled their lead in the 65th minute. But discipline cost the side as they handed Adamstown a penalty two minutes into stoppage time.
The Blues will be determined to find the back of the net again and hold on until the very end to lock in their first win of the 2026 campaign.
Bye - Adamstown Rosebud JFC