By Blake Jarrett

Lake Macquarie City FC 5 def. Hamilton Olympic FC 1
Match of the Round

The Round 12 Match of the Round saw last placed Lake Macquarie City host sixth placed Hamilton Olympic.

Just one win and two draws saw the Roosters stranded at the bottom of the table on five points. This match was a chance to extend their total against a side that had lost their last two games.

Hamilton had registered sixteen points after four wins and four draws and were desperate not to make it three losses from as many matches.

Olympic began the better of the two sides, dominating possession and field position.

Substitute Clayton Poole was introduced into the match after just eleven minutes as Ben Koina was forced from the field with injury.

Poole made an instant impact for Olympic, finding the net in the thirty-second minute to open the scoring. After a brilliant dummy by Matthew Swan, Poole beat a sliding Jarrod Olivieri and drove a left foot strike into the top left hand corner.

After the goal, Lake Macquarie began to create a lot of chances as they worked their way back into the match.

They were rewarded for their persistence in the second minute of injury time. Brad Swancott turned over possession to Tom Walker. Walker played in Sam Walker and as Swancott went to change direction he slipped, leaving Sam Walker with an easy finish into an open goal.

The sides went into the break locked at one apiece.

After the break Cody Lucas nearly put the visitors ahead 2-1 with a peach of a free kick that had Nathan Archbold in all sorts. The strike rattled off the crossbar however, and the score remained 1-1. 

The remainder of the second half was a complete disaster for Hamilton.

In the fifty-third minute Tom Walker won a header in a contest with Olympic debutant Luke Rutledge. The ball fell to Sam Walker whose pass was intercepted by Olympic defender Kyle Hodges. The ball fell straight back to Jarrod Horne who played a tidy through ball into the path of Sam Walker inside the box. He buried the one-on-one chance into the bottom right hand corner, doubling his tally and putting the Roosters ahead.

Two minutes later all the three of the Walker boys chipped in as Sam Walker completed his hat trick. Tom Walker found Dan Walker in space with a good pass. Dan then turned and fired a strike on goal, which Swancott fumbled into the path of Sam Walker for his second tap in to an open goal of the match.

In the sixty-fifth minute Olympic’s day went from bad to worse as the Roosters went ahead 4-1. Dan Clements found Sam Walker from a throw in on the right hand sideline. With an inch perfect through ball he found Tom Walker who rounded Swancott and curled the ball home from the tightest of angles.

To complete Hamilton’s terrible day Greg Anderson brought down Sam Walker in the box just two minutes later. Walker took the spot kick, driving it into the bottom right hand corner for his fourth of the day.

With twenty-three minutes remaining it would require something extremely special if Olympic were to record a historical comeback. They could not find a response however. Their best chance came late in the half, but Nathan Archbold superbly denied Clayton Poole from close range.

The match ended 5-1 to the Roosters who recorded just their second win of the season.

Lake Macquarie coach Gary Rowe was pleased with the result and his side’s performance, stating that they executed the game plan well and dominated the match.

The result, combined with the other Round 12 matches, leaves both sides in the same position in which they started. Lake Macquarie remain last and Olympic are still sixth.

Sam Walker became the first player since John Majurovski in 2011 to score four goals in one match.

Next week the Roosters travel to Jack McLaughlan Oval to challenge the second placed Edgeworth, and Hamilton host Weston at Darling Street Oval.

 

Newcastle Jets Youth 3 def. Broadmeadow Magic FC 0

Broadmeadow welcomed the Newcastle Jets Youth to Magic Park on Saturday afternoon in the opening match of Round 14 of the National Premier League.

Broadmeadow began the match on the back of a successful State Cup finals series which saw them win 5-1 in both the Quarter and Semi Finals.

They faced a huge task in the Jets however, who launched themselves four points clear of Edgeworth when they crushed the Eagles 5-1 the week before.

Magic were still without Alex Kantarovski and Ben Higgins, but welcomed back Scott Pettit to the starting line-up. They had plenty of firepower on stand-by, with competition veterans Peter Haynes and Chris Berlin on the bench.

Both sides created chances early on, however neither could beat their respective opposition’s keeper.

On the half an hour mark Jesse Cook pulled off an exquisite save to deny a well-timed Daniel Casciaroli header from a corner.

Just a minute later the Jets had a chance of their own to open the scoring, however Radovan Pavicevic could not control a Mike Finlayson aerial through ball just outside the eighteen yard box, which would have left him one-on-one with Bowling.

The final play of half time saw Broadmeadow with a perfect chance to take an advantage into the break. They forced a corner and sent numbers into the box, but Scott Pettit’s whipped ball was just too high for the oncoming traffic.

In the fiftieth minute the Jets Youth took the lead after five minutes of constant pressure. Ben Hay whipped in a dangerous ball from the left sideline looking for Pavicevic. As usual Radovan controlled the ball with ease, then he slotted the ball past Bowling into the back of the net to make the score 1-0.

Five minutes later Bowling was forced off the park after being collected by the boot of Beau McDonald as he slid in to retrieve a through ball. Former Youth Jets keeper Adam Pearce was his replacement.

In the fifty-seventh minute Matt Hoole created Broadmeadow’s best chance of the match at that point, cutting into the box from the left and cutting the ball back to Hakan Canli who blazed his shot from ten yards over the bar.

In the sixty-second minute Peter Haynes was introduced for Broadmeadow in place of Canli.

A minute later the man with the task of stopping Haynes from scoring doubled the Jets’ lead. Nick Cowburn whipped in a sharp free-kick from the right hand sideline, and central defender Roman Hofmann headed the ball past Pearce, crashing off the left post on its way into the goal.

With twenty minutes remaining Magic made their final substitution as Chris Berlin came on for right-back Owen Littlewood. Rhys Tippet moved to right back and Berlin slotted in up front. It was the final roll of the dice for Chapman whose side was well and truly going all out to level the score then find a winner.

This did little to faze the Jets Youth who continued to dominate possession and field position, creating the better of the chances.

On the eighth minute mark the game was all but over after a mistake that Pearce would love to forget. Cowburn whipped in a free kick in an identical position to his last that led to the second goal. It was not on target, and Pearce looked to have it covered comfortably, however it slipped out of his grasp and into the back of the net.

Four minutes later Casciaroli struck a venomous left-foot volley towards the top left hand corner. Cook was on his toes, and leapt simultaneously, getting a hand to the shot and forcing it out for a corner.

Just two minutes after that, Cook was forced into action again, superbly stopping a Peter Haynes header that he met from Matt Paul’s in-swinging free kick from the right hand side.

In the final minutes of the match the Jets registered four shots on target as they pushed for a fourth. None however threatened Pearce.

The match finished 3-0 to the Newcastle Jets Youth, sending them six ahead of second placed Edgeworth.

Magic finished the round still in six after the remainder of the Round 12 results really favoured them.

Newcastle Jets Youth coach James Pascoe suggested that his side were a bit flat and sloppy in the first half, but was extremely pleased with their energy and execution in the second.

In Round 13 Broadmeadow welcome Lambton to Magic Park to compete in the Match of the Round, and the Newcastle Jets Youth take on South Cardiff on Saturday at Ulinga Oval.

 

Charlestown City Blues FC 1 drew Edgeworth FC 1

The third match of Round 12 saw Edgeworth Eagles travel to Lisle Carr Oval to take on Charlestown City Blues.

Charlestown entered the round in fifth place with confidence after defeating Lambton 1-0 during the week, their fifth win of the season. Edgeworth was second also after five wins.

Edgeworth had the better of the chances in the first half, and took a 1-0 lead into the half time break through a Bren Hammel spot kick.

The only goal of the second half came through Charlestown’s Ben Hughes, who also netted from the penalty spot.

The match finished 1-1 leaving both sides in the positions in which they started the round: Edgeworth second and Charlestown fifth.

Charlestown coach Shane Pryce was proud of the effort that his side showed throughout the match.

‘It was a gutsy team effort against a very good outfit in Edgeworth,’ he said

‘Even though Edgeworth probably had some of the better chances we keep putting in the effort right to the end so I was pleased to come away with a point.’

He labelled goalkeeper Andrew Goldman as a standout, describing his performance between the sticks as terrific.

The draw was Edgeworth’s fifth of the season, and left them six points adrift of first placed Newcastle Jets Youth.

In Round 13 action Charlestown City travel to Adamstown to take on the Rosebud, and Edgeworth host last placed Lake Macquarie City.

 

Weston Workers FC 2 drew Lambton Jaffas FC 2

Weston Workers welcomed Lambton Jaffas to Rockwell Automation Park in the fourth match of Round 12 to contest one of the most anticipated matches of the round.

Weston began the round in third position on eighteen points, just one ahead of the fourth placed Jaffas.

The last time the two sides met Weston defeated Lambton 2-1, and they looked set for another victory as they opened the scoring early in the first half through Jamie Subat.

Lambton were looking to leapfrog the Bears and reclaim third spot, and on the half hour mark Luke Remington gave the Jaffas hope, equalising, making the score 1-1.

Subat doubled his total before half time and the sides went into the break with Weston ahead 2-1.

The only goal of the second half came on the hour mark through a stunning strike by Alex Palozzi from outside the eighteen yard box that sailed into the top right corner.

The match ended 2-2, leaving the Bears in third position, and the Jaffas in fourth.

Jaffas Coach Dave Tanchevski said his side was left to rue missed chances in a match that could have seen them progress to second.

‘In the first half we were diabolical,’ he said.

‘We kept giving the ball away and we created four or five chances but we just couldn’t capitalise on them; we couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.’

He went on to suggest that Jobe Wheelhouse was a standout, who was filling the void in a depleted backline after Adrian Perisic departed for the season due to work commitments.

Next week Weston is away to Hamilton Olympic on Sunday and Lambton travel to Magic Park to contest the Round 13 Match of the Round on Saturday.

 

South Cardiff FC 1 def. by Adamstown Rosebud FC 3

In the final match of Round 12 the South Cardiff Gunners hosted the Adamstown Rosebud at Ulinga Oval.

The eighth placed Gunners and ninth placed Rosebud were both looking to pick up the three points, and make a push to the finals in the process.

South Cardiff had won four of their first eleven matches, to Adamstown’s two, one of which was against South Cardiff back in Round 3.

The Gunners started the match the better of the two sides and were rewarded on the half an hour mark, as Chris Gazzard scored to put the home side ahead 1-0.

They took this lead into the half time break, however they only had ten men at their disposal to defend it in the second half after James Byrnes was sent off in the thirty-fifth minute for dissent.

On the hour mark the Rosebud equalised. Sean Matthews headed home to make the score 1-1, sparking a comeback for the away side.

Ten minutes later Daniel Yaxley put the visitors in front, and then Jack Brilliante sealed the Rosebud’s victory in the eightieth minute.

The 3-1 win sees Adamstown move level with the Gunners on thirteen points. Greg Asquith’s side remains eighth on goal difference however.

Adamstown coach Anthony Richards was very pleased with his side’s effort, suggesting his side played well in the tough conditions.

He said that Chris Dale and Dayne Pawlik played well, and labelled second goal scorer Daniel Yaxley as a clear man of the match.

With other results taken into consideration the sides finish the weekend five points outside the top five, making their final six matches must-win contests if they are a chance of playing finals football.

Next week the Gunners return to Ulinga Park to host the first placed Newcastle Jets Youth, and Adamstown are also at home, taking on Charlestown City Blues.