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BEN HOMER

Lambton Jaffas 4 (Griffiths 20’, Brown 29’, Hay 34’, Remington 72’) defeated Lake Macquarie Roosters 0 at Macquarie Field. 

Lambton Jaffas ended Lake Macquarie’s undefeated start to the season with a dominant display in the ‘Match of the Round’ on Sunday afternoon.

Joel Griffiths, Pat Brown, Ben Hay and Luke Remington all got on the scoresheet for the Jaffas as they shot to the top of the table after five rounds.

Lambton controlled much of the early possession and were rewarded in the 20^th minute after Ridge Marpu weaved his way down the right edge squared a ball for Griffiths who with his back to goal spun and fired a left-foot shot into the post which ricocheted in for a 1-0 lead.

Less than ten minutes later and the Jaffas had their second. Michael Kantarovski’s shot deflected off the Lakes defence and fell to Pat Brown who finished from a tight angle on the right.

The Roosters were all but out of the game in the 35^th minute when Ben Hay struck with a brilliant near-post header. Dain Greentree put his cross on a dime for Hay who made no mistake to make it 3-0.

Lambton headed to the shed with a 3-0 lead and the second half developed into a lacklustre affair with neither side creating too many chances of note. That was until out of nowhere the ball fell to Luke Remington who shot from outside the box on his left boot and he picked out the right corner to make it 4-0.

Jaffas Assistant Scott McCarter was pleased with the control his side showed.

“I think the first half we were really controlled and we managed to score first which we hadn’t been able to do against Valentine or Weston, so we knew once we scored the first goal it was a matter of us staying switched on and keeping the ball, which we did in the first half.

“We know we are good enough to beat anyone if we turn up and play and that happened today and we’ll expect to beat Magic on Friday night.”

Lakes coach Anthony Richards said the Jaffas “punished his side for being a bit sloppy”.

“In the first half, I didn’t think we were at the speed of the game. They were clinical in front of goal and that’s the NPL. We have been waiting to come up against a side of that top level quality and we found it.”

But, Richards doesn’t think the loss will impact heavily on his side.

“I think the boys will be looking forward to another contest [next weekend]. Adamstown gave us a good run the Heritage Cup and that is fairly raw in our emotions. They were too good for us on the day. So, if we don’t turn up [next week] we could be on the end of another scoreline,” Richards concluded.

 

Valentine Phoenix 2 (C.Brown 18’, J.Brown 55’) defeated Adamstown Rosebud 0 at Cahill Oval. 

Valentine ended their four-match losing run at Cahill Oval with a confidence-boosting 2-0 victory over Adamstown. The win was Valentine’s first back to back victories in the top grade since being promoted in 2015 and makes it three wins for the Phoenix in 2017.

The home side opened the scoring in the 18^th minute as Chris Brown scored his second of the season. Alex Faulkner whipped in a pinpoint cross to Brown at the back post who headed home for the lead.

The Phoenix headed to the sheds with a 1-0 advantage and doubled it soon after the resumption. US import Jalon Brown got off the mark for the season weaving past defenders and thumping his shot home in the 55^th minute.

Ten minutes later and Brown was at it again with an amazing run. He was felled by the Rosebud’s defence and the penalty was awarded. Brown stepped up as he looked to grab his second of the afternoon, however, Adamstown keeper Paul Bitz guessed right and made the save to keep the visitors in the match.

Adamstown couldn’t take advantage of their keeper’s heroics though as they struggled to break down the Phoenix defence as Valentine ended their Cahill Oval curse with a solid 2-0 victory.

Rosebud coach Pete McGuinness was disappointed with his side’s inability to create chances.

“We had a fair bit of ball but just didn’t create anything. Our decision making when we went forward [was disappointing]. We were uninventive.”

“Charlie Horsley created a few opportunities for us in the first half in particular. Second half we had a lot of the ball but just didn’t do anything with it. We’d build up, build up and it just puttered out to nothing really,” McGuinness said. 

Phoenix coach Darren Sills was pleased to get his first win as Valentine coach at Cahill Oval.

“It was a big one [to win a Cahill Oval]. I stressed that before the game. Everywhere else we go, we are playing away games and this is our home and we had issues last year with it.

“At the end of the day that’s what we had to do, and we needed to get off to a [good] start.”

 

Hamilton Olympic 4 (Smith 16’, 69’, Spencer 25’, Bird 57’) defeated Jets Youth 1 (Parris 62’) at Darling Street Oval. 

The Jets Youth may have ended a six-hour goalless run against Hamilton Olympic but it came as a mere consolation as they leaked four goals for the fourth straight match as Olympic ran rampant on Saturday night.

It leaves the Jets bottom of the table with just a point from the opening month of football.

Olympic took just 16 minutes to get the scoring underway, with Grant Brown cutting a precision from the left edge onto the head of Scott Smith who powered the header home.

Ten minutes later and Olympic had doubled their lead. It came after Leo Bertos cannoned two powerful shots which were well blocked by the Jets defence, but they couldn’t clear their lines. The ball deflected to Tommy Spencer who controlled, turned and thumped home from point-blank range to make it 2-0.

With a 2-0 lead at half-time Olympic continued their dominance in the second half. Tommy Spencer threaded a pass through for Daniel Bird who ran through the heart of the Jets defence and slotted past keeper Pierce Clark.

The Jets finally had something to cheer about in the 62^nd minute as they broke a 372-minute goal-scoring drought against Olympic. In his 100^th match for the club, Kyle Hodges made a rare defensive error, clearing into the onrushing Finn Parris – the ball ricocheting into his path – and he chipped Danny Ireland neatly to bridge the deficit to two goals.

But, that was a good as it got for the Jets as Olympic wrapped up the match in the 69^th minute. The ball fell to Scott Smith at the back post after Clark failed to claim Tommy Spencer’s free kick. Smith made no mistake as he slotted his fourth of the season.

While they conceded four, Jets Youth coach Clayton Zane said it was the best quality of football his side has played all year.

“I was really happy with the performance. I thought we played really good football. It’s just the big moments, we get outmuscled.

“Olympics probably been one [side] that we have had the most trouble with physically since I’ve been back in the fold. You always feel like you are going to be pushed around a bit.

We talked about that before the match and I thought the boys acquitted themselves really well. I thought we were excellent with the ball last night apart from finishing and executing in the final third,” Zane said.

 

Edgeworth Eagles 0 drew with Maitland Magpies 0 at Jack McLaughlan Oval. 

Edgeworth played out just their fourth regular season draw under coach Damian Zane, as the Eagles were held by Maitland at Jack McLaughlan Oval on Saturday night.

The Eagles were denied two goals in the opening half due to offsides and another via a brilliant save from Matt Trott after Brody Taylor’s shot bobbled off the bumpy surface.

In the 8^th minute, Brody Taylor’s through ball to Adam Cawley looked to have given Edgeworth the lead, as Cawley raced one-on-one with Trott and chipped Maitland’s goalkeeper intelligently. But, it was rubbed out after Cawley was judged to be offside.

Taylor was then denied in the 25^th minute after a Bren Hammel free kick was nodded on by Dom Bizzarri to Taylor at the back post who powered the header home. But once more the Assistant’s flag was raised to deny the home side.

Maitland had a chance to win the match in the second half, but Jordan Elphick put his shot too wide from close range.

Eagles coach Damian Zane said he felt his side dominated the match and was frustrated they couldn’t make it count.

“We probably had three or four decent chances. We just could not score. It was a very frustrating night.

“I get stats on the game and I would say we had over 60 percent of possession. To their [Maitland’s] credit they were tough to break down. But, it’s two points lost for us, with the amount of chances we had.”

Maitland coach Phil Dando said his side “did alright”.

“Obviously, they were fresh after the bye and we were a bit leggy after playing on Wednesday but organisation wise I thought we did alright. I was well pleased with the way we went about it.

“They were probably on top for it. But you’d expect that, last year’s champions at home. We restricted their number of chances and I thought a draw was the least we deserved out of it.”

 

Charlestown City Blues 1 (Maguire 84’) defeated Broadmeadow Magic 0 at Lisle Carr Oval. 

Charlestown continued their mini-resurgence in the last two weeks with a last-gasp 1-0 victory over Broadmeadow on Sunday afternoon.

The Blues started the stronger on a warm afternoon at Lisle Carr Oval creating the better of the chances in a scoreless first half.

In the second half though Broadmeadow got themselves into the game and began to test Charlestown’s keeper, Nathan Archbold.

But, it was the final ten minutes where the game took a significant twist. Rene Ferguson darted down the left edge and cut infield where he went one-on-one with Magic keeper Nico Giantsopolous. Giantsopolous clipped Ferguson on the edge of the box and Broadmeadow’s keeper was handed a red card.

Broadmeadow had used up all three of their substitutions so Peter Haynes took over the goalkeeping duties for the final minutes.

Josh Maguire proved to be the hero from the ensuring free-kick. From just outside the box to the left of goal Maguire curled the free kick into the right corner, the ball thumping down off the bar and in to give Charlestown the lead.

The Blues were able to hold Magic at bay for the final five minutes to make it two wins on the trot as they returned to the top four.

Charlestown coach Shane Pryce was proud of his side’s improvement over the last two matches.

“The attitude and commitment has been really good over the last two weeks. In the end, the players have got to turn up and want to play and want it more than the other team and that’s something we have definitely done over the last couple of weeks.”

However, Pryce didn’t want his side to get ahead of themselves.

“But, we always say there is a long way to go, so the test is being consistent week in week out and the proof will be in the pudding then.”

Magic coach Ruben Zadkovich said his side “need to be better”.

“I said last week we’re executing at about four out of ten in terms of our performance, I think, and today was no different. We are well below par for us and that’s probably what the results are showing.”