Match of the Round
New Lambton 1-5 Newcastle Olympic
Newcastle Olympic coach Craig Atkins praised his side’s patience in their 5-1 defeat over New Lambton FC at Alder Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Eagles’ winning streak was finally broken after Olympic bounced back from a run of poor results with vengeance away from home.
Olympic opened the scoring in the seventh minute through Sophie Walmsley. Elodie Dagg whipped a free kick from outside the area towards goal, which was saved by goalkeeper Ngawai Pirini initially. But the ball bounced into a sea of players and onto the path of Walmsley, who tapped it into the back of the net.
New Lambton levelled the score in the 19th minute after a mistake by goalkeeper Janali Haynes. Tara Andrews pressed the young goalkeeper, who kicked the ball straight to the Golden Boot leader and Andrews slotted the goal.
The score remained locked up at 1-1 at the half-time break before Olympic came out firing in the second half.
A double from Jemma House in the space of five minutes gave Olympic a 3-1 lead.
House put her side ahead for the second time in the match in the 61st minute after she used her pace to outrun New Lambton’s defenders and slice the ball hard and low into the back of the net.
Olympic’s captain struck again in the 66th minute from almost the same spot as her first goal, this time with a high looping strike into the top left-hand corner.
The away side were determined to keep their foot down and put two more past the Golden Eagles.
Substitute Maddy Howard made the score 4-1 in the 80th minute after an impressive individual goal.
Howard received the ball in her own half before she blistered down the pitch past defenders and into the penalty area. Pirini saved her first strike on goal but she made no mistake with her second attempt and sliced it into the top corner.
Howard put the nail in the coffin for New Lambton four minutes later and netted her second of the afternoon after she got onto the end of a cross into the penalty area from Dagg and tapped the ball into the back of the net.
New Lambton had no answers in the second half and the score remained 5-1 at the final whistle to break their three-match winning streak.
Atkins was thrilled at his side’s performance and their ability to stick to their game plan.
“I thought it was quite a dominant performance. The girls stuck to the game plan very well,” Atkins said.
“We created opportunity after opportunity and hit the post a few times. We weren’t as clinical as I would have liked.
“I thought we contained Tara Andrews very well. We gave her one little sniff but that was it.
“Credit to the girls for sticking to the gameplan and just being patient to keep playing football. In the end patience was a virtue and paid off in the end.
“I was most impressed with the overall effort from the girls. They worked really hard, especially off the ball. I thought that was a real highlight of the game.
“Confidence was obviously high after the game.
“Training has been fantastic in the lead-up and the girls have been ripping in. The little break in games helped to refocus us and I think there are some positive signs to come.”
The win saw Olympic move back up into third position and they will hope to secure back-to-back wins as they prepare to take on last-placed Broadmeadow Magic at Darling Street Oval next Saturday.
New Lambton coach Aaron Stedman said his side was disappointed to end their unbeaten run in the way they did.
“Obviously it is not what we wanted. For the way that we have been playing and then to turn up and have what happened is disappointing,” Stedman said.
“Overall we weren’t good enough and that’s football sometimes.
“When it was 1-1 we were still in a positive space but the message was that we needed to sharpen up in midfield and be better at tracking players and they [Olympic] were moving the ball very well. I thought we started to do that in the second half but then a couple of goals go against you and you get down.
“We needed to limit the mistakes and we didn’t do that.
“We were a little down and Olympic was on the top of their game. I think Olympic were a great team and played some great football.
“We are disappointed in the result and how it happened but we knew Olympic needed a result and weren’t going to leave without one.”
But Stedman remained proud of his team’s efforts so far this season and was confident they would quickly bounce back.
“Where we are and where we are sitting on the table, everyone should be proud of it,” Stedman said.
“We have scored more points than this time last year with one less game and are sitting fourth, so we are on track to reach our goal to make the semi-finals. The girls should be proud of that and now we learn from our mistakes and move forward.
“The girls will take this on the chin and will know to be better next time.
New Lambton have moved down into fourth on the table and will regroup ahead of their clash against Charlestown Azzurri at Lisle Carr Oval next Saturday.
Charlestown Azzurri 0-3 Maitland FC
Maitland FC have made their statement on the competition snapping Charlestown Azzurri’s eight-game winning streak with a 3-0 victory at Lisle Carr Oval on Sunday afternoon.
Magpies coach Joe Wright said that the Blues were the team to beat this season, which his side did to put their statement on the competition in 2025.
The reigning premiers opened scoring in the 42nd minute through Marry Ntsweng. The South African international got in behind Azzurri’s defence to receive a ball from Sophie Nenadovic and sprint into the penalty area before she placed it into the goal.
The Magpies took the 1-0 advantage into the half-time break before Ntsweng used her pace again to double their lead in the 49th minute.
Ntsweng took off towards goal down the pitch before she unleashed a powerful strike into the back of the net.
Charlestown tried to get themselves back in the game but were unable to capitalise on opportunities.
Maitland co-captain Sophie Stapleford put the cherry on top for her side after a classy one-two pass with Georgia Amess and sprinted into the penalty area unmarked and smash the ball over the reach of goalkeeper Danielle Bartels and into the top of the goal.
The reigning champions had no answers and the final score remained 3-0 at the full-time whistle.
The win moved Maitland back into top spot on the table, one point clear of Azzurri. They will hope to continue their unbeaten run when they return home to Cooks Square Park to host Lake Macquarie City FC next Sunday.
Charlestown have slipped into second on the table, five points ahead of Newcastle Olympic in third. Heath Whyte will hope his side can regroup and bounce back as they welcome New Lambton FC to town next Saturday.
Lake Macquarie City FC 1-2 Adamstown Rosebud JFC
Adamstown Rosebud JFC have secured their first win of the season after coming from behind to snatch a 2-1 victory over Lake Macquarie City FC at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Friday night.
The two sides came out firing, but neither could break the deadlock in the first half, as they went into the break locked up at 0-0.
Ani Jensen put the Roosters ahead in the 67th minute after her corner kick curled over the sea of players and into the top corner of the goal.
But the Buds immediately responded less than a minute later through Marion Dunbabin, who found herself with the ball inside the penalty area and smashed it into the back of the net.
Adamstown capitalised on the shift in momentum and took the lead for the first time in the match in the 74th minute.
Tanya Jones rose the highest off a corner kick and headed the ball with power straight into the goal.
Despite Lakes’ best efforts, the score remained 2-1 at the final whistle.
The win has moved Adamstown off the bottom of the table and into sixth position on four points. Martin Slade’s side will serve the bye in round eight before they return in round nine to face Broadmeadow Magic away from home at Magic Park.
Lakes also have four points but sit in fifth position on the table on goal difference. They will look to bounce back next Sunday when they travel to Cooks Square Park to face Maitland FC.
Broadmeadow Magic – Bye