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 DECLAN PAYNE 

Match of the Round
Broadmeadow Magic 1 (Majurovski 6’) def Charlestown City Blues 0
Sunday 15^th April, 2:30 pm at Magic Park

After two defeats on the trot, Ruben Zadkovich’s desperately needed a reaction from his side in touch with the top at this early stage.

Against the league leaders, a reaction is exactly what he got – his ten-man side inflicting Charlestown’s first loss of the season.

An early John Majurovski goal did the damage for the home side. He was teed up nicely by Kale Bradbury in the 6^th minute but still had to twist his body skilfully to turn in the half-volley.

In blustery conditions, chances were hard to come by. Bradbury had the best of Magic’s chances after the goal, but his shot was turned away by Danny Ireland.

Tensions were running high in the second half and Magic’s Shane Paul was shown a second yellow, and subsequent red card after diving in from behind in the 73^rd minute.

Just minutes later, they threatened to boil over after a penalty shout from Ljubo Milicevic was waved away. On his return to the halfway line, an off-the-ball incident seen Magic youngster Jeremy Wilson on the ground clutching at his face and Milicevic showed a yellow card.

Wilson was again in the firing line in the dying minutes, after Charlestown’s Zac Lloyd came in hard and the pair had words but ultimately it was Magic that had the last laugh with their first win since round one.

The win takes Magic to seven points for the season, having taken four points from a possible nine away from the top three so far this year.

Charlestown remain at the top of the ladder, but their lead has been cut by two points – Edgeworth is coming up close, only three points behind.

 

Lambton Jaffas 1 (Hay 30’) drew Adamstown Rosebud 1 (Heydon 4’)
Saturday 14^th April, 2:30 pm at Arthur Edden Oval

With just one point and sixteen goals conceded from four matches so far in the league, Adamstown’s task on Saturday looked like one of their most challenging yet.

In one of the weekend’s shock results, Rosebud managed to upset the scales and take a point away from Lambton for only the second time in eleven matches between the two sides.

The away side took the lead in just the fourth minute of this one, a Connor Heydon header putting Adamstown in front for the first time in any league match this season.

It wasn’t a lead which Adamstown held for too long, with Ben Hay scoring his second long-range goal in as many weeks to level things up in the 30^th minute.

The second-half brought with it an onslaught from Lambton, but they were met with a determined Benn Kelly who made a plethora of key saves throughout the half.

Jaffas’ best chance came in the 77^th minute when a long ball from the returning Jobe Wheelhouse found Joel Griffiths. He teed up Pat Brown, but a slight deflection off an Adamstown player on the way meant he couldn’t get his shot away.

Ultimately, both sides would have to settle for a share of the points. It keeps Adamstown in touch with the rest of the league – level at the bottom with Valentine, but only two off Hamilton in ninth.

Lambton missed the chance to go into outright second, which a win would have seen them do. Instead, they remain in third just four points off leaders Charlestown.

 

Edgeworth Eagles 4 (Bower 40’, Byrnes 51’, 70’, Hurley OG 63’) def. Weston Workers Bears 1 (Burston 27’)
Saturday 14^th April, 5:30 pm at Jack McLaughlan Oval

A big result for Edgeworth puts them right back in the mixer, but it wasn’t without a struggle after they came from behind to put four unanswered goals on the Bears.

It was Weston who opened the scoring, a short corner in the 27^th minute finding it’s way to Jackson Burston on the corner of the six-yard box. He curled a nice shot over the arms of Nate Cavaliere in the Edgeworth goal to put the away side ahead.

A corner at the other end helped Edgeworth square things not long before the half-time break. The ball in from Adam Cawley found it’s way to an unmarked Will Bower at the far post, who turned in for his first goal of the season.

Set pieces were the flavour of the month at Jack McLaughlan Oval, and Tyson Jackson got in on the act just after half-time as his free-kick teed up Jamie Byrnes to put the Eagles ahead for the first time.

Jackson would whip in a near identical free-kick twelve minutes later to double Edgeworth’s advantage. This time it was Weston Chris Hurley who turned it in, rising for the header but unable to put it anywhere but his own net.

Byrnes would grab his second and the first in the match that didn’t arise from a set-piece situation in the 70^th minute. A mazy run and delicate ball from Adam Cawley found the striker, and he made it 4-1.

Edgeworth coach Damien Zane was delighted with the way his battered and bruised team pulled together.

“On the day Macca pulled out, Dylan Holz pulled out of the starting team twenty minutes before kick-off and Aaron McLaughlin went down with an injury after six minutes, so we’d used our only fresh sub after six minutes… it was a massive effort,” Zane said.

“Happy with the performance, the first half was good and the second half, we improved a few things and probably our best performance all year.”

There were three goals from set-piece situations for the Eagles on Saturday night, and it was something Edgeworth had talked about a little before the match.

“Generally we don’t score from many set pieces, it’s something we thought we could exploit them with and our delivery was spot on and we had guys attacking the ball,” Zane said.

“We knew they’d set up pretty compact, and we’d said it might be a set piece which wins it for us today and sometimes it’s tough to break down a compact side and the way you do that might be a free kick.”

The 4-1 win is Edgeworth’s biggest since round 21 last season, and Zane was happy with a number of players.

“Second half we made a bit of a change and pushed Tyson Jackson out to the right, Adam Cawley to the 10 and he (Jackson) had a really exceptional second half especially,” Zane said.

“Great team effort is generally what you get out of Edgeworth, but Pat (Wheeler) and Tyson were probably standouts in a good team.”

 

Hamilton Olympic 1 (Bertos 72’) def. by Newcastle Jets Youth 2 (Tipaldo 8’, Simmons 58’)
Saturday 14^th April, 6 pm at Darling Street Oval

Just five rounds in and with a bye in the rearview mirror, the Jets Youth have already claimed nearly half of last season’s points tally.

They managed their second win of the season with a dominating win over Hamilton Olympic on Saturday evening.

Jets Youth kicked off the scoring in the 8^th minute, with a Jack Simmons corner floating into the head of Cai Tipaldo, who rose and finished strongly to put the Jets Youth ahead.

They made it two in the 58^th minute after some brilliant lead up work – this time it was Tiapldo teeing up Simmons. A ball in was headed on by Tipaldo, and Jack Simmons went from provider to scorer, poking home to give the Jets a two-goal buffer.

The home side managed to pinch one back in the 72^nd minute, a ball in from Reece Papas finding Leo Bertos who turned it in and halved the deficit.

Ryan Goodhew went close to pushing the Jets’ lead back out to two with a blistering shot from outside the area in the 76^th minute, but it whizzed over the bar.

Hamilton was unable to find their way back into the match though, and they slipped to their second defeat of the season and currently sit in ninth spot.

The Jets on the other hand now sit sixth but are level on points with fourth and only five behind Charlestown in first place.

 

Lake Macquarie City 6 (Okeno 2’, Sichalwe 30’, 35’, Hunter 45’, Walker 74’, PEN 90+1’) def. Valentine Phoenix 1 (Niyonkuru 4’)
Sunday 15^th April, 2:30 pm at Macquarie Field

It was the scoreline which no-one saw coming – Lakes, off the back of their first win this season over struggling Adamstown smashing six past Valentine.

Valentine came to Macquarie Field in search of their first win of the campaign, but will ultimately have to go away and lick their wounds in search of a solution.

The scoring was opened extremely early after Morgan Okeno was set on his way by a probing long ball, and scored in just the second minute. Valentine would strike back just moments later though – a fourth-minute bicycle kick from Aaron Niyonkuru levelling the scores.

A quickfire Paul Sichalwe double set Lakes on their way not long before half-time. The first was on the half-hour mark and seen the former Magic man finish high into the net. The second was a similar finish – hard and high, but from slightly further out.

Already two goals to the good before half-time, Lakes weren’t done yet. A Corey Fletcher free kick in the 45^th minute found the head of Mitch Hunter, whose header was too strong for Perry Budden and the score was 4-1 as the two sides went in at half-time.

It took half an hour into the second half for Lakes to build on their lead, and it came through talisman striker Sam Walker. A free kick on the edge of the area was fired in low and hard around the wall and found its way in off the post to make the score 5-1.

The misery wasn’t over for Valentine though, and a run into the box from Lakes’ Harry Lane attracted a foul and a penalty. Sam Walker stepped up and made no mistake from the spot to make the score 6-1.

Speaking with BarTV Sports after the match, Lakes’ midfielder Tom Walker said he’s enjoying his own shift to the backline.

“It’s a little bit different, just allows me to sit back and watch it without the pressure of people coming around,” Walker said.

“It’s making a difference our backline, Cam (Holzheimer) that was in the centre there is a midfielder so he’s a ballplayer too, which helps us get forward really quick… we’ve got all the young fellas that are coming through, doing the running and attacking up the front now.”

“(The bye next weekend) doesn’t come at a good time, just when we’re building some momentum so it would’ve been good to keep on playing, I guess we’ll just have a rest, look where we’re at, and come back fresh the week after.”