Declan Payne

Edgeworth’s class is permanent, Hamilton go close

The lead wasn’t Edgeworth’s until the ninetieth minute, but it doesn’t matter how long you lead as long as you’re ahead at the end and the Eagles ensured they were.

After a loss to Lambton in the opening round turned a couple of heads around the place which thought perhaps Edgeworth’s dominance was coming to an end.

Four wins on the trot, and the fantastic form of the likes of Tyson Jackson, Pat Wheeler and Daniel McBreen (to name but three) are proving so far, that a downturn looks far from the truth.

Without a win in four now, the types of performances Hamilton are turning out are in stark contrast to the results they’re producing.

They’re a side with a good mix of new and old, who can’t quite seem to find that elusive win to put them back on track and up the ladder.

 

Maitland too strong, Jets Youth resilient without luck

There haven’t been many Maitland squads without Matt Thompson since his arrival in 2015, but it was so on Saturday afternoon.

Lacking perhaps a clinical touch in his absence, it took the Magpies almost ninety minutes to find the breakthrough but the quality of their play would have been most impressive to coach Michael Bolch.

Chances were plentiful for Maitland, but a single goal was enough and it puts them firmly into the top four – with a point advantage over Lambton, who have the bye next weekend.

Jets Youth missed the chance to go into the top four given their late loss but produced an extremely resilient performance which prevented Maitland from racking up goals upon goals.

They’ll face a Lake Macquarie side next weekend, who will be keen to keep kick into some form after the bye and thus prove quite a challenge for the young Jets.

 

Charlestown machine keeps rolling on, Weston on the up despite the loss

Wins are something of an expectation for Charlestown this season, but this one wasn’t perhaps as straightforward as the Blues would have liked.

They were clinical though, seizing on two Weston mistakes in the first half to score their two goals of the match and set up an extremely structured defence in order to keep the Bears at bay.

Next week presents another big challenge for the Blues, who will head to Edgeworth and attempt to put six points between themselves and the perennial premiers. 

It was a spirited effort from a beaten Weston, who was unable to crack a ten-man side in the final ten minutes despite putting away a single goal in the aforementioned period.

They currently sit on six points from six matches, and the next two weekends for them (games against Adamstown and Valentine) will be of vital importance before the bye. 

 

Valentine hold for a point, Lambton frustrated

Valentine bounced back superbly from that big loss to local rivals Lakes and managed to claim their third point of the season against Lambton at the weekend.

Assistant Sam Griffin said in the aftermath of the draw that Valentine knew they were likely unable to outplay Jaffas, and instead focused on a game plan which sought to nullify their strengths.

With big matches against Magic and Charlestown in store across the next three weeks, they’ll need to maintain this upward trajectory and make their way up the ladder.

For the second week running, Lambton failed to take all three points from the opposition which they were perhaps widely expected to do so.

The bye this weekend will give Jaffas time to regroup and reconsider their approach and try to get back into the winners’ circle against Jets Youth the following Saturday.

 

Adamstown penalised, Broadmeadow quality shines through

With yet another on the weekend, Rosebud has now conceded four penalties so far this season in just six matches.

Perhaps indicative of how much time their opposition are spending inside the front third, it’s a worrying statistic for coach Shane Cansdell-Sherriff and one which has contributed to his side conceding 21 goals in just six matches.

Weston this weekend may be a match which they approach differently compared to Lambton and Broadmeadow, their opponents of the last two weeks.

The Magic machine rolls on as they stamped their authority as one of the hottest teams in the competition – another four goals put them on top of the goal-scoring charts.

The potential loss of James Virgili after he dislocated his shoulder will be a big loss, but as the lethal Broadmeadow front four showed at the weekend they’re able to score goals in his absence.