Maitland coach Mick Bolch lauded the determination and composure of his side to overcome injuries and a frustrating first half to rout Newcastle Olympic 4-0 in their Northern NSW NPL minor semi-final on Sunday.
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A superb two-goal performance from gun striker Braedyn Crowley spearheaded the victory at Darling Street Oval which set up a preliminary final clash with Broadmeadow next weekend.
Crowley, who had a first-half penalty stopped by Nate Cavaliere, beat two defenders then the keeper with a dinked shot in the 53rd minute. He then blasted a strike in off the bottom of the crossbar from an acute angle for 2-0 in the 67th.
James Thompson extended the lead with a deflected shot in the 74th minute and Crowley crossed for Ryan Clarke to score in the 76th.
Crowley and Clarke were among Maitland players in doubt for the final after the Magpies showed resilience to topple Charlestown in a penalty shoot-out last week.
Clarke (hamstring) missed that game, Liam Thornton (calf) came off in the opening minutes and Crowley did not take a penalty after struggling with hamstring tightness.
Teammates Mat Swan and Matt Trott joined the trio this week in hyperbaric chambers at Sprouting Health Chiropractic in Newcastle to help recover for the match.
The second-half blitz allowed Bolch to get Crowley and Clarke off early to prepare for next week. He was full of praise for Crowley, who has 16 goals in 15 games this season.
"To come back from missing the penalty and being 0-0 at half-time, he scored the first two goals and the second was just a bomb, it just shows the mental attitude of the kid," he said. "He's a level above this level."
Maitland dominated the first half without scoring, despite running into the wind.
"The biggest thing was composure, " Bolch said.
"We had the run of the game and should have been a couple up at half-time. They are games we have lost three and four nil in the past. After dominating the first half and not scoring, we concede a scrappy goal and heads go down, but the boys were on today. That's our best performance this year.
"We've been written off a bit with people saying we're injured, but we've still got plenty of quality players and plenty to play for. We've won our past five and we're one more away from another grand final. While ever that prize is dangling in front of the boys, they're never going to give up."
Olympic's hopes were dented early when Reece Papas limped off in the 12th minute after aggravating a quadriceps injury.
Coach Alex Tagaroulias said he had players, including Papas and Kyle Hodges (knee) at the back, who went into the match with injuries and it proved telling.
"All the mail was that Maitland had injuries, but the truth was we were covering up a lot of our own, and unfortunately it was a bridge too far," Tagaroulias said.
"A lot of guys strapped themselves up and tried to do the business but it was quite evident a couple of us were a bit too sore."
The Magpies were awarded a penalty in the 21st minute after Rhys Cooper hit Thompson side on.
Crowley, though, was denied from the spot by Cavaliere, who dived low to his right.
Cavaliere had earlier dived full stretch to tip a Crowley shot on the turn around the post and he was again sharp to deny Clarke in the 28th.
With strong winds at their backs, Olympic had their chances in the first half when Dino Fajkovic was close in the 34th minute and Jared Muller was just wide with a header off a corner in the 35th. Olympic also had a call for a penalty turned down in the 31st when Mat Swan took down Tim Stewart.