Match of the Round
Newcastle Olympic v Adamstown Rosebud JFC
Darling Street Oval, Sunday 5pm
Newcastle Olympic coach Neil Owens is hopeful his side can get their season back on track but acknowledges they need to be on top of their game when they welcome Adamstown Rosebud JFC to Darling Street Oval on Sunday.
Olympic heads into the clash on the back of a heavy 9-1 defeat to Maitland FC last weekend.
It marked their third loss of the season, with the team managing just one win from their opening four matches.
The result dropped them to sixth on the table, and they now hold the second-worst goal difference in the competition, having conceded 16 goals so far this season.
Despite the tough start, Owens remains optimistic that his side can do a full 180 and turn their season around
“I’m still hopeful that we can get our season back on track and get the mental attitude right,” Owens said.
“We'll go to training tonight and the senior girls will lead a bit of a conversation of just being a bit more ready on match day.
“We’ve just been a bit too relaxed and just need to get on with it. Just being first grade ready, if you’re a first grader you’ve got to be, it doesn't matter if it's 8 o'clock Sunday night or 2 o'clock Sunday afternoon, you just got to be ready to play.
“That’s the real mindset shift that I'm looking for, just being mentally ready to play and ready to rumble.
“You're playing first grade football, they [skills] don't just disappear overnight, so we’ve just got to get back on the horse.
“We’re playing first grade football, be prepared, back yourself, back your teammate and be ready to play.”
Sunday will be Olympic’s third home game in a row and Owens wants to see his side take advantage of playing in front of a home crowd.
“We're at home and we've got a couple of games at home now, we just need to take advantage of that,” Owens said.
“Just be on top of our game, you can have all the excuses under the sun, so we just need to be on.”
Jemma House, Sophie Walmsley and Sophie McDonald will continue to manage their minutes as they return from injury.
Adamstown enters the contest on the back of serving the bye in round five after a hard-fought 2-2 draw with Charlestown Azzurri the week prior.
The Buds are sat at the bottom of the table and are yet to secure a victory this season, recording two losses and two draws.
Despite this, coach Martin Slade believes that if his side continues to work hard, the results will follow, though he remains wary of a hurt Olympic side.
“I'm confident that the girls can start turning the positive performances that they've been putting in into points and hopefully securing the first win of the season,” Slade said.
“I just want the girls to go out there and keep putting their best foot forward and I'm sure that the points will come.
“I want them to go out there, win their battles, first and foremost, because I believe that Olympic will want to come out and try to give a better performance. They'll go out there, they'll work hard and they'll try to turn around that result, so we need to be ready for that.”
Adamstown have conceded first in all four of their opening matches and Slade wants his side to come out firing against Olympic to take control early.
“We've done that [concede] numerous times where we go goals down and we keep responding. We have to make the most of the situation and the opportunities that we give ourselves to stop putting ourselves so far behind,” Slade said.
“Probably the biggest thing this year with all the games is when the teams are on top of their opposition and they score multiple goals. It kind of breaks the spirit of the opposition.
“We gave oxygen to Charlestown [Azzurri] and other teams that we played against. They’re up to 20, 30 minutes without conceding, they get a second wind because they're not losing and they get through to half-time and score.
“When you have the opposition down and go bang, bang, bang it takes all the life out of the opposition, and it just absolutely nullifies them.”
New Lambton FC v Lake Macquarie City FC
Alder Park, Saturday 7pm
Lake Macquarie City FC coach Gabrielle Blanch understands that her side needs to make the most of their opportunities when they travel to Alder Park to face New Lambton FC on Saturday night.
Lake Macquarie locked in their second consecutive loss after they went down 3-0 to Charlestown Azzurri in round five despite dominating possession throughout the match.
But the back-to-back losses, while disappointing for Blanch, have shown her what her side needs to improve to bounce back to winning ways.
“It has been tough. Two very different performances by us but the same negative outcome,” Blanch said.
“We need to respond by getting back to what we do well. Trusting that we have a way to go in gelling as a squad and not worrying too much about results so early on in the season.
“Every game is an opportunity to learn, and I feel we've done that well to date.
“What was missing in our game against [Charlestown] Azzurri was our ability to score. The stats were ridiculous, laughable in fact.
“We need to be scoring if we are going to be creating so many chances. Plain and simple.
“Our key improvement will be to take our opportunities. We've analysed our game and there are some hard truths there.
“I thought we played well on Sunday but lacked in areas that are key to our success.”
New Lambton FC will enter the contest looking to build off another big win after they downed Broadmeadow Magic 5-1.
This was their second significant win following their 10-0 victory over Charlestown Azzurri in round one.
The Golden Eagles have dropped points just once this season, when they fell short against Maitland FC in round two.
The side sits second on the table just three points behind Maitland and have netted 19 goals but have conceded nine.
But coach Craig Atkins will not allow his side to get ahead of themselves as they go up against a determined Lake Macquarie City side that showcases an attacking strength of their own.
Maitland FC v Broadmeadow Magic
Cooks Square Park, Friday 8pm
Broadmeadow Magic will be determined to end Maitland FC’s undefeated run when they travel to Cooks Square Park on Friday night.
Jason Konjarski’s side will enter the contest off the back of their first loss of the season after going down 5-1 to New Lambton FC.
The side have locked in one win, one loss and two draws this season, unable to maintain momentum after a hard-fought first three matches.
Broadmeadow sits fourth on the table with five points, one point more than they collected the entirety of the 2025 season.
They will be determined to add to that tally and return to their strong attacking ways this weekend but will have a tough task ahead of them when they face a strong Maitland backline who have conceded just two goals this season.
Maitland enters the contest off the back of a dominant 9-1 win over Newcastle Olympic. It was the Magpies second commanding win of the season after downing New Lambton 7-1 in round two.
The Magpies sit three points ahead of New Lambton FC at the top of the table with the best goal difference of any side in the competition having found the back of the net 23 times.
Coach Ben Horgan will hope that his side can continue to build on their textbook performances and continue their reign at the top but will need to be mindful of a strong Broadmeadow front third who have scored in every match this season.
Bye - Charlestown Azzurri