Let’s check out the mini reviews from Round 3 of the National Premier Leagues NNSW Men’s competition.
Catch up on all the results and watch the highlights below.
Match of the Round
Lambton Jaffas 1-1 New Lambton FC
A new derby was etched into the football calendar as the Lambton Jaffas and New Lambton shared the points in a 1-1 draw at No.2 Sportsground on Friday night.
It was New Lambton's best performance of the season so far as they acclimatise to the top tier NPL Men’s NNSW competition.
There were opportunities at both ends but it was the Lambton Jaffas who broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time as Joshua Benson celebrated his 20th birthday a day early scoring a penalty.
New Lambton fought back in the second half with a penetrating run from Dylan Bozinovski and a cool finish from Chase Lattimore to level the match 1-1.
It was all hands on deck in the last 20 minutes as the Jaffas threw everything at the Golden Eagles.
Joel Caldwell and Sam Maxwell defended resolutely and central midfielders Louis Townsend and Jakson O'Sullivan seemingly covered every blade of grass.
It was an outstanding goalkeeping display from Alex Bozinovski which included two crucial saves in the 94th and 95th minutes to deny the reigning champions a last-gasp victory.
After conceding nine against Maitland last week, New Lambton boss Thomas Davies got the response he asked for.
"As a group we spoke about how our performance against Maitland wasn’t anywhere near what we expect as a squad," Davies said.
"To see how we reacted against Jaffas was very promising. Everyone put in a shift for the team.
"But as always still plenty of work to be done to get where we want to be as a club."
Lambton Jaffas coach David Tanchevski reflected on the goals that got away and provided an update on their injury crisis.
"Missed a lot of chances again," Tanchevski said.
"Hope to get Reece Papas and Nathan Verity back for next week.
"Riley McNaughton, Scott Pettit and Michael Kantarovski are still a few weeks away."
Maitland FC 1-2 Charlestown Azzurri
Charlestown Azzurri defeated Maitland 2-1 on Saturday night to make it three wins from three and send the Azzurri to the top of the table.
Maitland conceded a free kick near the centre circle after seven minutes which was an invitation for towering defenders Taylor Regan and Nigel Boogard to wreak havoc in the Maitland penalty area.
A long-floated ball was flicked on and bobbled towards Taylor Regan who held off a defender and rounded the goalkeeper to open the scoring at Cooks Square Park.
For almost an hour the Magpies probed and searched for an equaliser but the immense defence of the Azzurri held their positions and restricted their opponent's space.
Jackson Frendo was colossal playing in front of the central defenders forcing Maitland to go wide or long on many occasions.
The Azzurri defended as a unit from the half-way line which frustrated the Magpies.
Braedyn Crowley ran tirelessly dropping deep and onto flanks in search of more touches on the ball but last year's golden boot winner was ultimately denied space in the danger areas.
It was going to take something special to break down the Azzurri defence and that's what the game got.
The Azzurri headed away a Magpies attack but the ball rolled towards Rhys Copper who instinctively hit the ball first time and curled it around the Magpies goalkeeper from 25 yards.
The match was seemingly heading for a draw, until five minutes to go and another déjà vu moment, with Azzurri awarded a free kick near the centre circle.
Regan and Boogard strolled into the penalty area, Boogard won the header but under pressure, nodded towards the corner flag.
Azzurri kept the ball alive and Jett White floated the ball back into the penalty box for Kyle Munns to score from a glancing header.
Wild celebrations ensued as the Azzurri laid down the gauntlet in this year's title race.
Azzurri manager James Pascoe applauded the disciplined performance.
"If you give Maitland space they take it. If you give them uncontested chances they take them," Pascoe said.
"We gave them neither, due to 96 minutes of discipline, concentration and work ethic."
Charlestown Azzurri are the only team with a 100 per cent winning record after round three and on this form, look strong early contenders in this year's title race.
Weston Workers FC 3-2 Edgeworth FC
The Weston Bears are on a roll, backing up last week's 3-0 win against Lambton with a 3-2 win over Edgeworth on Friday night.
But the Bears were caught napping after 11 minutes at Rockwell Automation Park when they failed to deal with a free kick and Jacob Pepper was first to react to open the scoring.
The score remained at 1-0 until half-time when Weston Bears coach Kew Jaliens made a substitution which ultimately changed the course of the match.
Super-sub Dieuseul Kandundaho came off the bench and added pace and trickery to the Bears' attack.
On 52 minutes Kandundaho turned the Edgeworth right back inside out and laid the ball across for Cooper Buswell to finish.
Two minutes later, Buswell was in the right place at the time to tap-in from close range and put the Bears 2-1 ahead.
A defiant Edgeworth counter attacked and Sascha Montefiore equalised in a match that seemed to be heading for a draw.
But a red card for Edgeworth's Tyson Jackson on 75 minutes for a two-footed tackle opened the door for the Bears.
Edgeworth defended resolutely but with five minutes to go, a box-to-box run from Jacob Dundas won the match 3-2 for the Bears.
Dundas ran 20 metres from his own penalty area and found Buswell on the centre circle who looked up and sprayed the ball wide to Kandundaho on the left.
Seemingly heading into touch with his back to goal, Kandundaho spun 180 degrees, a quick stepover created enough space to send in a cross to the back post for Jacob Dundas to head home.
Dundas' lung busting run elevated the Bears into joint second place on the table with Broadmeadow Magic and Edgeworth.
Buswell scored two goals and was involved in the third for an all-around stellar performance from the big striker.
Weston Bears coach Kew Jaliens was jubilant with his team’s brand of football.
"The game was a good test," Jaliens said.
"We came back from one-nil down, bringing it back to 2-1 through playing football.
"And again after 2-2 we kept trying to play football and playing the way we want to. That was a positive for me.”
A timely substitution from Jaliens swung the balance of the game.
"First half I wasn't happy with what we brought to the table and made a tactical change,” Jaliens said.
"Dieuseul gave us more speed and direct threat up front and he was important for us in this game with two important assists."
Jaliens wasn't getting carried away with the back-to-back wins.
"We keep building as a team, one week at a time," Jaliens said.
Edgeworth coach Peter McGuinness made no excuses and gave credit to the opposition.
"Can't fault the effort of the boys," McGuinness said.
"We did well to lead and again fight back to draw even.
"Fell a little short against what I feel is a very good side."
It is too early to make predictions but, on this form, the Bears could be a dark horse in this year's title race.
Adamstown Rosebud 3-2 Lake Macquarie City
Adamstown Rosebud notched up their first victory of the season coming from behind to defeat Lake Macquarie City 3-2 at Adamstown Oval on Saturday.
As the temperature soared, kick-off was delayed as officials organised the implementation of the heat policy and the players took 90-second drinks midway through each half.
For the first time this season, Lake Macquarie City went ahead after seven minutes.
But the lead was short-lived when Dino Fajkovic equalised for Adamstown five minutes later from a throw-in.
Falkovic controlled the bouncing ball struck the ball into the roof of the net.
On the stroke of half-time Adamstown forced a terrific save from the goalkeeper but the shot was too hot to handle and Josh Haines picked up the pieces to score.
On 63 minutes Adamstown floated a corner into the back post which Lake Macquarie could not clear.
After two blocked shots and a goalmouth scramble, Adamstown's pressure was rewarded by an own goal to put the Buds 3-1 ahead.
But one thing Lake Macquarie do not lack is a fighting spirit and they were rewarded with a late consolation goal.
Adamstown Rosebud coach David Rosewarne was happy with the points.
"Overall I thought we executed what we set out to do well enough that we were able to create enough chances to justify the three points," Rosewarne said.
"We need to continue to work on being more clinical when chances are created as I think we had three or four very good chances that we should have converted and that would have meant we could have closed the game out earlier.
"Credit to the lads for playing with the energy and application they did considering the heat and humidity."
Cooks Hill United 2-2 Valentine FC
Cooks Hill United were denied victory in injury time last week but this week they turned the tables and salvaged a 2-2 draw in the final minute on Saturday.
Sakeel Brown put Valentine ahead after 12 minutes at No.2 Sportsground and Rodrigo Paulista added a magnificent strike on 21 minutes.
Cooks Hill United pulled a goal back after half-an-hour from Brock Beveridge.
Nick Russell sent the Cooks Hill faithful into a frenzy, scoring a penalty in the final minute to break the Valentine hearts and deny them victory.
Valentine coach Adam Hughes lamented missed opportunities.
"We created enough chances in this match to score a third goal," Hughes said.
"When it's a 2-1 game you are always going to have some phases where the opponent can be dangerous, unfortunately for us this was a late penalty today.
"Positives [were] we had more players back on the park today, so our squad depth is continuing to grow.
"Rodrigo's goal today was top class.”
Cooks Hill coach Chris Zorocich took positives from the spirited fightback.
"Thought first half we had the ascendancy but couldn't punish and got sucker punched twice," Zorocich said.
"We still felt we could win the game despite being 2-0 down.
"However, second half we weren't great and didn't create much.
"We were lucky in the end to grab a last-minute equaliser which turned the tables on last week's result where we conceded in the last minute.
"Showed great character to keep going which is pleasing."
Newcastle Olympic 2-3 Broadmeadow Magic
Broadmeadow Magic's 10 men pulled off a magic act, snatching an injury-time winner to defeat Newcastle Olympic 3-2 at Darling Street on Saturday.
In a seesawing match the momentum shifted back and forth throughout.
Magic striker Jarred Baker smashed a terrific volley after seven minutes for his fourth goal of the season.
Dylan Burston equalised for Newcastle Olympic on 14 minutes after two blocked shots from a corner and a goal-mouth scramble.
Magic went 2-1 ahead after 33 minutes when Bailey Wells dribbled down the inside-right and blasted into the net.
But the momentum shifted on 35 minutes when a mis-timed tackle from Keanu Moore reduced Magic to 10 men.
Magic gallantly defended for around 40 minutes until they were caught in the transition.
Olympic broke into the Magic half as Hamza Moosvi latched onto a long ball and equalised with a looping header.
Olympic poured forward searching for the victory and went close on several occasions with Magic goalkeeper Cesa Serpa keeping his team in it by the tips of his gloves.
But it was Magic who snatched an emphatic victory in the final minute.
A long free kick from inside the Magic half, followed by several blocked shots that ended at the feet of Will Ingram to score a sensational 3-2 victory followed by a rapturous celebration.
Broadmeadow coach John Bennis praised the fighting spirit.
"It was a fantastic result for us over the weekend," Bennis said.
"Very special win on derby day and to do that with a man down for an hour of football showed how resilient and tight these players are.
"All the credit goes the players for the performance.
"A real fighting spirit against all the odds away from home and against tough opposition."