Blake Jarrett

Broadmeadow Magic FC 3 drew Edgeworth Eagles FC 3
Semi Final 1 Leg 1
Sat 22 August 2:30 PM
Magic Park

The first of the two Semi Finals in the Northern NSW PlayStation® 4 National Premier Leagues (PS4 NPL) saw Broadmeadow and Edgeworth contest a blockbuster at Magic Park.

Magic entered the match without Scott Petit and Chris Berlin through injury, whilst Edgeworth had Pat Wheeler out suspended which saw Dom Bizarri come into centre back for the Premiers.

After an intense opening to the match where both sides were attacking with purpose Edgeworth went ahead as Bren Hammel slotted a penalty which was won by Brenton Olzomer who was brought down by Magic keeper Nathan Archbold.

Magic leveled in the 36th minute after Edgeworth keeper Jim Fogarty spilled a Matt Hoole shot which saw Kale Bradbury presented with the easiest of tap ins just a metre out from an unmanned goal.

The sides went into the break at 1-1 after an amazing first half.

The second half was even better; producing four goals in what was a classic Semi Final match.

Magic dominated after the break, but Edgeworth found themselves ahead 3-1 on the hour mark after Olzomer scored into the bottom left hand corner in the 57th minute, then Dylan Holz scored a superb solo effort two minutes later.

Magic never looked down and out, and got themselves back in the game in the 70th minute as Kale Bradbury forced a penalty after being taken down by Fogarty, which Peter Haynes converted to make 3-2.

Matt Hoole then set up his second of the match in the 76th minute, making a brilliant interception which stopped a scoring chance in his own half, then launched a pin point through ball which Kale Bradbury ran onto and scored to make the score 3-3.

The score remained 3-3 at full time, with Magic pleased with their comeback but Edgeworth taking three away goals into next week’s game.

Magic coach Rob Virgili was happy with the result after being down 3-1.

‘At 3-1 down you will always take a 3-3 draw, we were always in the game and we never gave up,’ he said.

‘We had Edgeworth on the back foot in the second half, they got us on two breaks which they finished well, and it didn’t reflect on our performance’.

Virgili also praised 2015 recruit Kale Bradbury after scoring two goals in the match.

‘It’s great to have Kale back at our club where he belongs, it’s games like today that we expect him to stand up and that is what he did. We expect that from him and he expects that from himself’.

The next leg of the Semi Final takes place next Saturday at Jack McLaughlan Oval.

 

Hamilton Olympic FC 2 def. Lambton Jaffas FC 1
Semi Final 2 Leg 1
Sun 23 August 2:30 PM
Darling Street Oval

In the second of two intriguing Semi Final first legs Hamilton Olympic picked up a crucial one goal advantage against Lambton Jaffas.

Both sides went into the match at full strength, and after two draws in season 2015, and two draws in their last two Semi Finals matches, there was nothing splitting the pair.

Hamilton entered the match on the back of a shock 2-0 loss against Maitland the week prior, and were aware that a repeat of that performance would simply not be good enough.

The Jaffas began the match on the back of three consecutive wins to end the PS4 NPL season.

Lambton almost went ahead after ten seconds as Luke Remington shot just wide as his side launched a great attack after the kick off.

The Jaffas dominated the opening 25 minutes however could not capitalise.

Hamilton went ahead 1-0 in the 35th minute, as a Simon Mooney in-swinging free kick from the left was met by Jacob Bailey who headed into the back of the net.

That was the only goal of the first half with Hamilton going into the break leading 1-0.

Both sides pushed for the match’s second goal in the second half, but after 15 minutes it was still 1-0.

In the 61st minute however, Hamilton doubled their lead as Kane Goodchild met a Pat Brown corner, heading into the back of the net.

In the 75th minute the Jaffas pulled one back as Peter McPherson played a brilliant one-two with John Majurovski on the edge of the area then slotted his shot into the back of the net from close range.

Hamilton keeper Danny Ireland produced a brilliant save late in the game to deny Remington, whose headed attempt looked on its way in.

The match finished 2-1 to the home side, with Hamilton picking up a narrow lead in the first leg of the tie.

Hamilton coach Mick Bolch was happy with the win but insisted the job is nowhere near done.

‘We won’t be thinking about the lead and the away goal rule at all this week,’ he said.

‘We will go into the next leg as if it is 0-0 and play to win that match’.

‘I am very happy with the way we played today, although the Jaffas started the better of the two sides, but we got a foot in after half an hour and in the last 20 of first half we were dominant’.

Jaffas coach David Tanchevski was also happy with his side’s performance but disappointed with the result.

‘Overall it was a pretty good performance, but we fell asleep on two set pieces which is disappointing,’ he said.

‘We dominated first 25, and had more possession throughout the game. Our midfield was great today’.

Hamilton take the 2-1 lead into the second leg on the Semi Final next Sunday at Arthur Edden Oval.

Both sides have injury concerns after Hamilton’s Pat Brown left the field with a head knock, and Jaffas’ Kevin Davidson was substituted at half time with a groin injury.