Match of the Round
Maitland FC 8-0 New Lambton FC
New Lambton FC coach Craig Atkins said he will be ruthless in the revision of his side’s 8-0 thrashing by Maitland FC at Cooks Square Park on Sunday afternoon.
Maitland hit the ground running, with an almost immediate attempt on goal from Sophie Stapleford.
Josie Morley launched the ball downfield to Stapleford, who rounded goalkeeper Janali Haynes at the top of the penalty area but defender Amy Gosling cleared the ball off the line.
But they did not have to wait long for the opening goal. Georgia Amess crossed the ball to Stapleford, who cut it back to Renee Pountney to tap home in the 11th minute.
New Lambton pushed for an equaliser 10 minutes before half-time as Caitlin Pickett charged into the box but had her shot denied by Magpies goalkeeper Annabella Thornton.
Maitland doubled their lead in the 39th minute after Amess delivered the ball into the box.
Josie Fisher denied Stapleford’s initial attempt but Elodie Dagg was there to tap in the rebound.
The Golden Eagles continued to press, with Sienna Fraser-Kelly playing a through ball onto the run of Tara Andrews in the 42nd minute but Thornton again denied her, as Maitland went into half-time leading 2-0.
Maitland were determined to extend their lead and a dominant 15-minute period saw them score five goals.
Stapleford sent Pountney through and she made no mistake one-on-one with Haynes, slotting into the bottom right corner in the 49th minute.
The Magpies made it 4-0 in the 54th minute when Amess’ effort was denied by Haynes, only for Stapleford to follow up and tap in.
Morley added a fifth from a free kick, volleying Dagg’s delivery into the bottom right corner.
Amess then capitalised on a misplaced back pass, blocking Haynes clearance and finishing into an empty net in the 60th minute.
Sophie Nenadovic capped off a dominant 15-minute spell in the 63rd minute, striking from distance as the ball bounced over a diving Haynes and into the net.
The Magpies weren’t done though as Nenadovic later set up Marion Dunbabin to finish 10 minutes from the end.
New Lambton searched for a consolation goal but were unable to find one before the final whistle, going home with an 8-0 defeat.
“We came with a bit of a plan and I thought the girls actually did all right in the first half,” Atkins said.
“We had some chances there and could have put at least one in the back of the net to make it a bit tighter there at half-time. I wasn't too unhappy at half-time, to be honest.
“Second half it was like every time we made an error, they'd turn around and just capitalise. They went bang, bang, bang.
“You can't switch off in any game, especially against Maitland. They're quality all across the park and credit to them for being brutal to us. The second half was extremely disappointing.
“Players will have to go back and look at everything. Positioning especially because [Maitland are] very sharp on the counterattack. They did sting us there a few times.
“So we need to look at that and go, ‘right, how was I positionally? Did we have numbers behind the ball or where was I tracking back fast enough? Was I putting those efforts in that I really need to put in’, because I don't think that was happening today.
“We're going to be pretty ruthless on the video analysis with this one and be pretty honest with the players as well.”
Maitland head coach Ben Horgan expressed his delight with the team’s performance, crediting their focused training sessions in the lead-up to the match as the key factor.
“I'm just delighted. We had a big training week where we'd come off a bye and so we had to really refocus and make sure that we were sharp today because we knew they were going to be one of our biggest challenges and it was,” Horgan said.
“The way we trained was outstanding this week and it was reflected in the performance. We had a good first half and we got the two goals but we had a little bit of a scare just before half-time.
“[Annabella Thornton] had to make a big save, so it was nice to go in 2-0 and not 2-1. That was a good reminder that you can't take your foot off here or lose concentration.
“We just really refocused at half-time and said ‘we’ve got to go out here and make sure we start strong and they're going to throw everything at us’.
“We were just determined that we would score the next goal and go on from there and that's obviously the way it panned out.”
Both teams will now enjoy a week off due to the pre-scheduled washout weekend. When the competition resumes, New Lambton will face Adamstown Rosebud, while Maitland will remain at home when they welcome Charlestown Azzurri to Cooks Square Park.
Lake Macquarie City FC 2-1 Adamstown Rosebud
Adamstown Rosebud coach Martin Slade said his side’s flat first-half performance and lack of control in possession contributed to their 2-1 loss to Lake Macquarie City FC at Macquarie Field on Sunday afternoon.
Adamstown Rosebud entered the clash in search of just their second win of the season, while Lake Macquarie were equally motivated to return to form, having not tasted victory since 27 February.
Chances were shared throughout a tightly contested first half but neither side could find the breakthrough before the interval.
The deadlock was finally broken just after the restart. In the 46th minute, Emily Loader-Weston burst into the box and saw her initial effort blocked by Jorjia Hogg. Reacting quickest, she recovered the loose ball and laid it into the path of Kiera Bainsfair, who calmly guided her finish under goalkeeper Olivia Sneddon to open the scoring.
Lake Macquarie looked to press their advantage in the 54th minute when Chelsea Lucas found herself one-on-one with Sneddon but the goalkeeper produced a strong save to tip the effort over the crossbar.
Adamstown’s response came shortly after. In the 57th minute, Tanya Jones passed to Marry Ntsweng on the right edge of the box and Ntsweng produced a superb strike into the top right corner to level the scores.
But Lake Macquarie quickly regained the lead in the 63rd minute when Sunny Mitchell surged down the right, drawing Sneddon off her line, before squaring the ball to Loader-Weston, who finished into an unguarded net.
Adamstown pushed hard in the closing stages in search of an equaliser but were unable to find a way through, as the Roosters held firm to secure a 2-1 victory and snap their winless run.
“I thought we were a little bit flat in the first half. I didn't think we were as good with the ball as we have been,” Slade said.
“We gave away possession quite easily by going a little bit long because we were under pressure. That just resulted in the ball coming back.
“They were on top of this in the first half and they actually were the better team.
“I don't know what the answer is. We'll talk about it and we'll go back through it but we have to get on top of games. When we're on top of games, like we were against Broadmeadow, we punish them.
“Fair play to Lakes, they’ve come off a couple of difficult weeks with a loss against Charlestown and a draw with Olympic and they just wanted to grind it out.”
Following the week off, Lake Macquarie will host Broadmeadow Magic at Macquarie Field, while Adamstown will face New Lambton FC at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility.
Newcastle Olympic 3-0 Charlestown Azzurri
A clinical first half performance by Newcastle Olympic saw them defeat Charlestown Azzurri 3-0 at Darling Street Oval on Friday night.
The two sides entered the match looking to secure all three points after each recording draws in round eight.
But it was Olympic who struck first in the 15th minute.
A through ball to Jemma House, as she charged towards the box, found Azzurri goalkeeper Danielle Bartels out of position, and House tapped it into an empty net.
Olympic doubled their lead in the 21st minute after Bartels again came out of the penalty area and followed House towards the corner flag.
House rounded Bartels and sent the ball across goal to Sophie McDonald, who found the back of the net.
A third goal followed just three minutes later when Ava McGann received the ball to the left of the box and fired it into the net.
Olympic continued to control possession throughout the first half but were unable to find a fourth goal, going into half-time with a dominant lead.
The second half was a more even contest as both sides traded shots but neither was able to score.
The battle continued until the final whistle, with Newcastle Olympic securing a 3-0 win at home.
Olympic will now have two weekends off, with a pre-scheduled washout weekend followed by a bye.
Charlestown Azzurri will look to return to winning ways when they travel to Cooks Square Park to take on league leaders Maitland FC after the break.
Bye - Broadmeadow Magic