EDGEWORTH coach Damian Zane said his side had already shown they were not a "one-man team" after they farewelled skipper and gun centre-back Josh Evans with a 3-0 victory over Lake Macquarie on Sunday.
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Evans will miss the next eight weeks, and the Eagles' run at a fifth consecutive Northern NSW NPL premiership, while in the US with the RAAF.
While Evans will leave a void in their defence, the Eagles showed there were no worries up front as Oliver Smith bagged a brace and veteran striker Daniel McBreen scored at Jack McLaughlan Oval in the round 15 win.
The victory put Edgeworth into second place on 26 points, one point behind Broadmeadow and one ahead of Weston. The Eagles, though, have played 14 games to the other pair's 13. Fourth-placed Maitland have 23 points from just 11 games, while Lambton Jaffas have 21 from 12.
It all adds up to a wide open premiership race and Zane was confident his squad had the depth to remain contenders.
"We've got Dom [Bizzarri] out for the season and Sam Maxwell is still out, so we're doing well. The teams that we are running out are still decent teams," Zane said.
"We'll be right. I've always said we're not a one-man team. We're a team. Obviously Josh is exceptional, but I think Dobbo [Mitch Dobson] has shown over a year and a half that he's pretty decent as well, and so is Pat [Wheeler]."
Edgeworth proved a class above last-placed Lake Macquarie on Sunday.
Jose Atayde, who will leave for trials in Spain after Edgeworth's July 23 FFA Cup game in Darwin, knocked in a rebound off a corner for Smith to hit home the opener in the 16th minute.
Josh Rose cut into the box before finding fellow ex-Mariner McBreen in the 36th minute for Edgeworth's second.
Smith ran onto a pinpoint perfect long ball from Dylan Holz to score the clincher in the 80th minute.
Zane was happy with the effort on the heavy pitch and glad to get the result in the bag on a weekend where two key games were washed out.
"It's just good to get on the ground," he said. "Everyone loved criticising us for our ground a few years ago but now I see others are calling their games off."
Edgeworth have made huge improvements to the drainage at Jack McLaughlan Oval in recent years.
On Saturday, Broadmeadow moved to the top of the table with a 3-1 win over Adamstown at Magic Park.
Luke Virgili crossed for Mitch Oxborrow to score in the second minute. Adamstown equalised in the 35th when Chris Berlin scored off a ball from Liam Ryan, who showed skill and determination to beat multiple defenders. Oxborrow and John Majurovski then set up Kale Bradbery to score in the 69th minute. Cody Carroll ran onto a long ball to net the sealer in the 81st.
The Lambton Jaffas v Maitland match set down for Saturday at Edden Oval and Sunday's Charlestown v Hamilton game at Lisle Carr Oval were washed out. The Jaffas-Magpies game was rescheduled to July 10.
