Match of the Round
Adamstown Rosebud JFC v Charlestown Azzurri
Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility, Saturday 7pm
Adamstown Rosebud coach Ryan Campbell believes his young players have what it takes to end Charlestown Azzurri’s perfect start to the season on Saturday night.
Charlestown arrive at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility with the only perfect record in the league, with Azzurri sitting two points clear at the top of the table thanks to four straight victories.
Rosebud started the season strongly but have failed to secure maximum points in their last two outings. Adamstown played well against heavyweights Broadmeadow before ultimately succumbing 5-2 before New Lambton held them to a goalless draw last week.
Adamstown will also be without in-form defender Charli O’Connor who is unavailable and captain Jenna Doyle who suffered a wrist injury at training on Wednesday night. Doyle fell awkwardly with the club awaiting scan results to determine the length of her absence.
First-choice goalkeeper Olivia Sneddon has also been missing with a quadriceps problem, with young shot-stopper Lily-Rose Dunbar expected to continue in goal after impressing in recent weeks.
But Campbell was adamant his young side had what it took to hang with the early league leaders.
“It will probably be a tough one for us. With a few missing it also gives a few young ones the chance to play,” Campbell said.
“That’s also the good thing about having a young team. You don’t really lose overly experienced players when someone misses out. If anything it’s a chance for another young player.
“We’ve had a lot of positives so far but we’ve probably been lacking in a bit of quality. Not in terms of players but more our ability to take chances. New Lambton last week we should have won by four or five, that’s where individually we need players to do better. Every stat was in our favour but realistically [New Lambton] had the best two chances of the game from our mistakes.
“We’re playing well but we’re probably still making too many errors which is giving teams a chance to beat us when realistically we should be winning.
“We probably need to improve on creating and taking chances. Last week a lot of our attacking players lacked a bit of confidence or the ability to break down a team that just sit back and defend quite well. New Lambton are hard to beat and made it difficult for us to score. But we really lacked our players having something different to create chances.
“I think we’re playing quite well as a team but it’s just those individual moments we need to be better.”
Campbell will also be missing because of his commitments as assistant coach with the Newcastle Jets A-League Women’s team.
The Jets play their last match of the season against Sydney FC on Saturday night, allowing Campbell to return his full focus to Adamstown from next week.
Reserve grade coach Sean Doherty will take the reigns in Campbell’s absence, with Campbell wary of the threat posed by Azzurri.
“They’ve got a lot of people that can score goals. For us we’ve got to defend quite well but the big focus for us this week is to be well organised,” Campbell said.
“We can’t give away goals. That has been one of our biggest problems when we play the better teams in the past. If you concede too many goals obviously it’s difficult to win games. The Magic game we played well but conceded five. We had good possession and field position but you don’t win games conceding five.
“Charlestown are scoring a lot. I think if we can limit their chances it will give us a good chance but they’re a good side and that is easier said than done.
“Games with Azzurri are always good. It’s sort of a friendly rivalry, it stays on the pitch. Charlestown are good for that. Some teams it’s more difficult to have a friendly rivalry with but with Charlestown it’s very competitive during the game then afterwards its all handshakes and we move on.”
Charlestown coach Niko Papaspiropoulos was facing a selection dilemma of his own with four players unavailable.
Alyssa Togo remains out with the knee injury she suffered in round one, while Katie Oliveira, Nikki Jones and Lori Depczynski are all unavailable.
But through crisis comes opportunity, with young players Katerina Papaspiropoulos, Ash Gavin, Charlize White and Shany Eidels among the potential replacements.
“I think we’ve got four definitely [out] and maybe a fifth missing this week,” Papaspiropoulos said.
“Alyssa it still a couple of weeks away. Thankfully there was not ligament damage but it was a micro fracture of the bone.
“We’ve been a bit unfortunate but we’ve got a little bit more depth off the bench this year. We’ve got a couple of young girls from reserve grade getting more minutes off the bench. We’ve got a few girls sort of between grades who are pushing for places.
“Even in our regular side we’ve got girls as young as 16. Evie Horgan, Cassie Corder, Brianna Williams, Jorja Brown, we’ve got plenty of young girls in our starting 11 which is a positive for us and the club.”
Papaspiropoulos said while he knew what to expect from Adamstown, Azzurri would be focused on themselves.
“As we all know at this point Adamstown are a high energy team,” Papaspiropoulos said.
“They are very well organised. Ryan does a really good job preparing them week in week out. You can never take them lightly.
“I’ve seen a few of their games this year so I know what to expect. It will be another difficult game, we need to be at our best to get a result. They are a side that can always cause problems to any team, they’re well organised. So we need to focus on what is in front of us, put in a good performance which will hopefully get us a good result.
“They are all about high energy, high pressing. We need to be aware of that. In the game and at training this week we need to prepare to deal with it.”
Maitland FC v Broadmeadow Magic
Cooks Square Park, Sunday 4pm
Maitland coach Keelan Hamilton wants his side to take the next step in its evolution when it hosts Broadmeadow on Sunday.
Magic arrive at Cooks Square Park widely regarded as one of the competition favourites. They have a squad that Broadmeadow coach Jake Curley rates as the best he has had at his disposal in his time at the club which is full of quality and experience.
Magic have not finished outside the top two since joining the top tier, with their status as competition heavyweights something that Hamilton aspires to for his team.
Maitland have secured back to back wins, including a comfortable 2-0 victory over New Lambton and an incredible 19-0 thrashing of Warners Bay. But it was the Magpies’ two opening one-goal defeats to Charlestown and Newcastle Olympic that were frustrating, with defensive lapses costing Maitland in tight games they could easily have won.
It is the big games against the best sides in the competition that Hamilton wants Maitland to take their final step and start securing the results they deserve for their fine performances.
“I think the girls already realise they are capable of winning these games. Now it’s about making that step forward and achieving the results,” Hamilton said.
“It may or may not happen on Sunday. But I know I definitely, and I feel the players as well, are confident in the process we’ve put in place and the direction we’re heading. It’s definitely a different challenge for us this week for sure. Last week the players performed well and did a professional job.
“But it’s a week to week proposition for us to aim to be at our best every single week. We know we can get results against the top teams if we are close to our best. The broader focus for us to be pushing up the table a little bit more will happen if we can be the best version of ourselves more consistently. I’m confident we can go into the end of the season in a strong position if we do that.
“I’m expecting a tough fixture. Magic have good players across the pitch. They’ve got experience in the competition now, a lot of players who have been consistently good performers at this level. I’m looking forward to the challenge.
“It’s not one specific thing we need to do well but we need to keep getting better as individuals and as a team every week. It’s easy to say but I feel like we’re heading in the right direction in terms of the players buying into being a squad and knowing that everyone will need to contribute at some point for us this season if we’re going to be successful and continue evolving as a team.
“It’s really pleasing to see because long term we want to be the benchmark side in the competition. But to do that you need to be consistently good over a long period of time like Broadmeadow have done.”
It will be a much different challenge for Maitland this week after their demolition of Warners Bay, though they will again be without first-choice goalkeeper Imogene Tomasone and captain Tahlia Gossner.
Tomasone was awaiting results of a scan on a thumb injury, while Gossner suffered a nasty ankle injury at training last week, with no timeline set for her return.
Reserve goalkeeper Annabella Thornton will also be unavailable again this week due to rowing commitments, with Taylah Bryde to continue in goal.
Broadmeadow will be without defender Kirstyn Antoni who will serve a one-match suspension after being sent off in Magic's exhilarating 3-3 draw with Newcastle Olympic last week.
Maitland will need to be on alert for star Magic striker Adriana Konjarski. The reigning NPLW NNSW Golden Boot winner has already scored 13 goals in the opening four rounds.
Mid Coast FC v Warners Bay FC
Taree Zone Field, Sunday 4pm
Mid Coast and Warners Bay will be desperate to earn their first points of the season when they meet in Taree on Sunday.
Middies and Warners Bay are yet to record a point between them having both lost their opening four fixtures.
But a win on Sunday will see them move away from the foot of the table and climb as high as sixth with New Lambton not in action.
The Panthers suffered another heavy defeat last weekend, going down 19-0 to Maitland. Warners Bay have conceded 58 goals in their opening four matches.
Mid Coast have shown good signs early on despite their results, having faced the top three sides Broadmeadow, Newcastle Olympic and Charlestown already to start the season.
New Lambton FC v Newcastle Olympic
Match Postponed
The match between New Lambton and Newcastle Olympic has been postponed to the competition's spare weekend in June.
With the Alder Park pitch deemed unplayable on Tuesday due to issues following ryegrass seeding, the club worked in conjunction with Newcastle City Council and NNSWF to find an alternate venue.
Given the lack of suitable grounds in the area available on Sunday to host five matches including first grade and reserve grade NPLW NNSW fixtures and under-13s, 15s and 17s PYL Girls fixtures, NNSWF made the decision to postpone the matches until the spare weekend to keep the entire matchday together.
The lack of available venues coupled with not increasing the burden on club volunteers by having to split the matchday into two, or potentially three, midweek match days, were key factors in the decision.
NNSWF General Manager Football Operations Liam Bentley said while he was disappointed the matchday had to be postponed, it had come down to a matter of logistics with the effect on club volunteers taken into account.
“Obviously we’re disappointed because our first preference is always for football to be played wherever it is safe to do so,” Bentley said.
“And we acknowledge that NPL Men’s NNSW matches had been scheduled at Alder Park for Saturday as well. Yet those matches have been transferred, not postponed.
“This is simply because we were able to secure a venue that could host two fixtures on Saturday, as NPL Men’s NNSW senior matchdays only have first grade and reserve grade fixtures. Whereas finding a host venue and club volunteers for a five-game match day at such short notice was significantly more challenging.
“We would much prefer these matches be played this weekend but this is why we have spare weekends, to solve issues like this when circumstances which are out of anyone’s control arise.
“But I understand the frustration of clubs and players and thank them for their understanding.”
The match will be played at Alder Park on Sunday 11 June.