Let’s check out the mini-reviews from Round 5 of the National Premier Leagues Northern NSW Men’s competition.
Catch up on all the action below!
Match of the Round
Maitland FC 0-1 Weston Workers FC
It was a gritty Weston Workers performance that yielded a hard earned 1-0 victory over Maitland in the El Clásicoal on Saturday night.
In a match of small margins, it was a Yuta Konagaya penalty in the 60th minute that was ultimately the difference at Cooks Square Park.
Konagaya started the move and a cute one-two with Connor Evans carved up the defence and allowed Konagaya the opportunity to run at goal until he was brought down.
Konagaya placed the ball on the spot and made no mistake firing into the bottom right-hand corner with his left foot.
The three points elevate the Bears into second place on the table with 10 points as they continue to establish their title credentials.
Weston Workers coach Kew Jaliens changed tactics for the derby match.
"A great result. Maitland away is always a tough one and especially a derby," the former Dutch international said.
"That was my message to the group, expect a different kind of game. I said fight first, then start to play.
"I told them about my experience with derby matches, after the game nobody will remember how you've played, you either win or lose.
"The boys picked it up, it was a hard game, we fought well and when possible, we tried to play and created chances.
"The building continues. It was good to see that we have the fight and the grit as well.”
Magpies coach Michael Bolch reflected on a disappointing start to the season where the reigning premiers have not had luck on their side.
"I thought both sides competed really well," Bolch said.
"Disappointed not to get something out of the game but full credit to Weston, they were good on the night.
"Cannot fault the effort of my player, things just aren't falling for us at the moment.
"But we'll keep turning up, working hard and results will start coming.”
Broadmeadow Magic 1-3 Lambton Jaffas
Lambton Jaffas prevailed 3-1 over Broadmeadow Magic on Friday night in what could be one of the matches of the season.
It was 1-all at half-time at Magic Park before a turning point in the 70th minute looked to have swung the game Broadmeadow’s way, only for the visitors to earn a memorable victory.
Bailey Wells broke the deadlock on 41 minutes with a dazzling run from the left wing towards goal and blasted into the top right corner from 25 yards to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
But the celebrations only lasted three minutes when the Jaffas were awarded a free kick.
Josh Piddington read the flight of the ball beautifully and timed his run to perfection to head home for the equaliser on the stroke of half-time.
Lambton Jaffas boss David Tanchevski made a crucial half-time substitution introducing Riley McNaughton who injected an extra level of intensity into the Jaffas' midfield.
But the 70th minute was the turning point.
From a Jaffas throw-in, Jarred Baker won the ball on the edge of his own penalty area and made a mesmerising run the length of the pitch.
Baker crossed the halfway line at full speed and ran menacingly into the Jaffas penalty area but was steered towards the touchline where he was bundled over by Kale Bradbery and awarded a penalty.
It seemed Jaffas goalkeeper Ben Kennedy had done his homework and dived to the left, the exact spot Baker scored his penalty in round one against Weston.
It was a terrific save from the Jaffas captain to deny a red-hot Baker his fifth goal of the season.
But, as hordes of Jaffas players ran towards their goalkeeper in celebration, Bradbery appeared to say something aggressively to referee Cal Stammer. With Bradbery already booked for an earlier challenge, he was shown a second yellow card and sent off.
With 10 men, the writing looked on the wall for Jaffas. But Magic seemingly switched off in the 80th minute when Lambton played the ball from defence into the feet of Finn Todhunter on the right wing.
A mis-timed interception gave Todhunter space to run at the Magic backline before striking a sublime shot into the left corner to make it 2-1 to Lambton.
In the 88th minute Broadmeadow cleared a corner kick but only as far as super-sub McNaughton who calmly struck the ball into the bottom left corner and sealed the three points and the Westpac Rescue Trophy with a 3-1 Jaffas victory.
Lambton coach David Tanchevski reflected on the rollercoaster of a match.
"It was a roller coaster of emotions. We were 1-0 down, then we score, penalty conceded, then we save it, man sent off, then we score," Tanchevski said.
"Bringing Riley McNaughton on at half-time was a crucial change for us. It gave us more aggression in the middle of the park and let us play Ben Hay higher up the pitch.
"When we had the man sent off, we kept our defensive structure really well, our boys lifted and I think Magic tried to change their game plan to take advantage of the extra man.
"We stayed really disciplined and had some really good moments with the ball whilst having 10 men on the field and deservedly won the match.”
After a stuttering start to the season, reigning champions Lambton Jaffas are gathering momentum with back-to-back to wins.
"The boys were pumped after the match, there has been a healthy rivalry with Magic over the years and good to get a win," Tanchevski said.
"More importantly for me, we continue to get some players back from injury and are starting to get our season back on track.
"Back-to-back wins over [Edgeworth] and Magic is a massive confidence booster for us and we continue in our approach to prepare for one game at a time.”
Broadmeadow Magic coach John Bennis lamented on the one that got away.
"It was a game that got away from us," Bennis said.
"Our performance was very good and that's why we are disappointed with the result.
"We will learn from it, the game had key moments that we need to manage better.
"For me their leader Ben Kennedy was the difference. He pulled off some big saves and controlled the game when required.
"We will move forward from it with the many positives and some key learnings.”
New Lambton FC 2-2 Valentine FC
The momentum started with New Lambton who had a goal disallowed on seven minutes and went ahead on the half hour mark but the momentum shifted to Valentine and the match ended in a 2-2 draw on Saturday.
Joel Caldwell opened the scoring for New Lambton on 29 minutes at Darling Street Oval following a fantastic team build up and a cross from Dylan Bozinovski.
Valentine hit back on 33 minutes when Nicholas Martinelli latched onto a long ball and dribbled into the penalty area and hit the net to make it 1-1.
In the 69th minute Valentine scored from their ninth corner but the lead was short-lived when eight minutes later Dylan Bozinovski equalised for the Golden Eagles.
A rasping Fletcher Davis free kick was too hot to handle, Joel Caldwell reacted first and struck the post but Dylan Bozinovski picked up the pieces and tapped in for a 2-2 draw.
It was another well-earned point for New Lambton but a game Valentine coach Adam Hughes believed was there for the taking.
"It was a physical match. Two of our players have ended up in hospital," Hughes said.
"We weren't at our best but created moments in the match where we could have taken other opportunities that we will look back on.”
New Lambton boss Thomas Davies was pleased with the comeback.
"I thought we were on top of the game in the first 30 minutes and deserved our lead," Davies said.
"Disappointed to concede and give away a lead but we reacted well after Valo scored their second goal.
"It was important to get the point considering how the game played out but with some better execution we could have come away with the win.”
Cooks Hill United 2-3 Newcastle Olympic
The momentum flowed back and forth but it was Newcastle Olympic who finished strongest winning 3-2 at Fearnley Dawes Athletics Field on Saturday.
Olympic flew out of the blocks. Jared Muller's exquisite first touch drew a mistimed tackle resulting in an Olympic penalty after two minutes.
Joey Langlois stroked the ball into the bottom left corner to give Olympic a 1-0 lead.
Cook Hill United equalised 10 minutes later through Brock Beveridge and they went 2-1 ahead on 35 minutes from another well worked team goal finished by Campbell Ross.
But in the 56th minute the rain poured and so did the goals.
Muller leaped highest from a corner kick, the goalkeeper blocked the header but Muller nodded home on the second attempt to equalise 2-2.
Five minutes later Nathan Toby's clinical finish sealed the three points for Newcastle Olympic.
Newcastle Olympic coach Joel Griffiths was pleased with the team's progress.
"We played not great first half but we regrouped and started to play and defend better," the former Newcastle Jets striker said.
"We are building, we are still in the contest.”
Cooks Hill United coach Chris Zoricich was displeased with the loss of momentum in the second half.
"After going down to a penalty that never should have been awarded, we did really well to go into halftime 2-1 up," the former New Zealand captain said.
"Our work rate was fantastic especially our front two Brock and Campbell and we scored two very well constructed goals.
"Second half was the complete opposite, very disappointing from our point of view.
"Credit to Olympic though for turning things around, hopefully we learn some lessons from it.”
Charlestown Azzurri v Adamstown Rosebud
For 75 minutes Charlestown and Adamstown exchanged chances in an evenly balanced contest until a moment of magic from Miguel Fernandez broke the deadlock, with Azzurri going on to win the match 2-0 on Sunday.
Azzurri missed a penalty on 23 minutes at Lisle Carr Oval and were almost made to pay for it as the youth of Adamstown Rosebud attacked in numbers with purpose.
As the game wore on, the gaps opened and Azzurri stamped their mark on the game.
On 75 minutes Jacob Melling won possession with a superbly timed sliding tackle that led to the goal.
After winning possession, Melling jumped back on his feet and played a slide-rule pass to Rene Ferguson who attracted two defenders and laid it off for Fernandez to blast into the top corner.
In the 84th minute the Azzurri's talisman defender scored from another corner.
Taylor Regan darted towards the front post and flicked the ball onto Jackson Frendo who shot at the target.
The goalkeeper saved it but the clearance landed at Regan’s feet who did not need a second invitation and hit the left corner to make it 2-0 to Azzurri.
The win continued Charlestown’s perfect start with Azzurri five points clear of Weston Workers in second place.
Charlestown Azzurri coach James Pascoe was pleased how his team kept to the task.
"Adamstown played well in the first half. They will take points off other teams throughout the season no doubt," Pascoe said.
"We remained patient, never getting frustrated and our class and experience allowed us to control the second half and get the three points with a couple of well taken goals.”
Lake Macquarie City v Edgeworth FC
Match postponed due to unplayable pitch at Macquarie Field following wet weather.