Hamilton coach Peter McGuinness will be on guard for the counterattacking potential of Adamstown when his side meet them on Anzac Day in round eight of the Northern NSW NPL.
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Olympic are fourth on 10 points from six games and are backing up on Thursday (2.30pm) at Adamstown Oval from a 2-0 win over the dangerous Newcastle Jets Youth line-up last Saturday at Darling Street Oval.
The win came despite the loss of goalkeeper Tyler Warren to a straight red card in the 67th minute for handball outside his area with the score at 2-0, and the exit of central midfielder Reece Papas in the 11th minute because of a hamstring injury.
Both will miss the match with Adamstown, who have just three points from seven games.
Rosebud, though, showed they were capable of upsetting the top teams when beating Charlestown 3-1 in round five.
Adamstown have consistently defended deep and tried to catch rivals on the counter. It was a strategy McGuinness himself used effectively when coaching Adamstown to a goalless draw against Broadmeadow on Anzac Day in 2017.
"I might have a look at what sort of a formation we play because I've watched a bit of Adamstown and there seems to be a pretty good focus on their defensive duties," McGuinness said.
"In the Charlestown game they were really good. They executed it fantastic, so we've just got to make sure we don't present opportunities to be countered."
McGuinness was buoyed by the performance of Olympic against the Jets Youth.
"We were shading them in possession by the stats at halftime and our passing sequences have been improving and that equates to goal-scoring opportunities eventually," he said.
"We created 35 goal-scoring opportunities - counting crosses, balls into the front third, etc - so we've improved in that area.
"I thought Rhys [Cooper] and Jake [McGuinness] did really well in the middle of the park.
"Reece [Papas] is a big part of that central midfielder but the boys adjusted really well."
Shinichi Kawachi came off the bench and Scott Pettit moved to No.10 when Papas left the pitch and McGuinness envisaged a similar line-up against Adamstown.
Jez Murray, who came on for Warren last week, will start in goals in the NPL for the first time since 2016, when he was with the Jets Youth.
Adamstown coach Shane Cansdell-Sherriff said he had a full-strength squad after the 2-1 loss to Lake Macquarie last Friday.
On Saturday, Lambton Jaffas take on the Jets Youth and Lake Macquarie host Maitland from 2.30pm. Broadmeadow play Weston from 5pm at Magic Park.
On Sunday, Valentine play Charlestown from 2.30pm at CB Complex.
In other news on Wednesday, former Maitland player-coach Dean Heffernan was announced as Western Sydney Wanderers' new W-League coach.
Watch Adamstown v Hamilton live at www.theherald.com.au on Thursday, courtesy of BarTV.
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