Azzurri went into the round-12 Newcastle Herald Women's Premier League match at John Street Oval in sixth position on 12 points, six adrift of the top four and desperate for victory after three straight losses.

The win moved Azzurri to 15 points, one behind fifth-placed Adamstown (16), who lost 2-1 to second-placed Broadmeadow (31) at Magic Park on Friday night. Maitland stayed fourth on 18 after a 4-0 loss to league leaders Newcastle Olympic (33) at Darling Street Oval on Saturday and Warners Bay remained on 19.

Charlestown were minus several key personnel and after shooting out to a 2-0 half-time lead then 3-0 in the 65^th were forced to hold off a fast-finishing Panthers in what could prove a season-turning victory.

In-form centre-back Carolina Cacic and leading scorer Lori Depczynski were out injured. Midfielder Tamara Nash and versatile May Bailey were unavailable and attacking player Ash Gavin was a last-minute withdrawal.

"It puts us back within that a-game-away position, which is good, and we can take a lot of positives from that," Papaspiropoulos said post-match on Sunday.

"We had to start Shani Vazey, who'd played in reserve grade, and didn't even have a full starting 11.

"It was an amazing shift, so hopefully the girls take some confidence from that and a bit more belief that we can keep working and keep winning games. It was well deserved to finally have some of the work we've done pay off."

Strike weapon Jess Gentle again proved lethal for Azzurri, cutting open the Panthers' defence time and time again in the first half before setting up two goals for Freya Clifton.

The first came in the 34^th when midfielder Isabella Ramzan-Levy put Gentle into space down the right. The lightning-quick 24-year-old sped towards the byline before cutting the ball to the top of the box to find an unmarked Clifton, who skied the ball with her first touch but done enough to put it over Panthers goalkeeper Ally Boertje and into the net.

Clifton made it 2-0 in the 45^th with a much cleaner close-range finish after a similar ball from Gentle.

Lilly-Jane Babic put one wide of the goals right on half-time in one of a numbers of chances the hosts could not put away in the first half.

Gentle made it 3-0 with a long-range punt in the 65^th minute that hit the post and bounced into the goals.

A moment of Tara Pender brilliance in the 69^th put Warners Bay back in the hunt.

The former W-League player was surrounded by Azzurri players when she hit top speed towards goals and drove a low shot past Azzurri shot-stopper Mia McLachlan and into the bottom left corner to make it 3-1.

Then in the 76^th Pender found Elodie Dagg in the box and the Panthers captain only had McLachlan to beat to make it 3-2 in a period where the hosts applied plenty of pressure on their opponents.

Dagg put a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box over the bar at the death before Ramzan-Levy sealed the win with a goal in the 91^st.

It was the second loss in a row for last year's grand finalists, who lost 2-0 to Maitland in round 11, and left Warners Bay coach Craig Atkins ruing a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal.

"We had enough chances to win three games," Atkins said. "Again, we played some really good football and early on we were really dominant. We probably should have scored after 10 seconds.

"We just can't be creating that many chances and not putting them away, so that's the frustration because the build-up play was so much better today."

On Saturday, Jemma House scored twice and Danielle Nicol also found the back of the net to give Olympic a 3-0 half-time lead over Maitland. Keely Gawthrop scored in the second half.

On Friday night, Ash Brodigan gave Magic a 1-0 half-time lead over Adamstown. Kiarra Lewis equalised from the penalty spot before Lucy Jerram found a matchwinner in the dying stages for Broadmeadow to keep them in touch with Olympic and in the race for the minor premiership.

Magic coach Jake Curley described the first half as "our best performance so far this year".

The match between last-placed New Lambton (0) and seventh-placed Mid Coast (4) scheduled for Arthur Edden Oval on Sunday was washed out. Mid Coast already have a game in hand against Warners Bay with the two sides set to play a weekend double-header in Taree on July 31 and August 1.

Round 12 results:

Charlestown Azzurri 4 (Freya Clifton 2, Jess Gentle, Isabella Ramzan-Levy) beat Warners Bay 2 (Tara Pender, Elodie Dagg) at John Street Oval on Sunday. Half-time: Azzurri led 2-0.

Newcastle Olympic 4 (Jemma House 2, Danielle Nicol, Keely Gawthrop) beat Maitland 0 at Darling Street Oval on Saturday. Half-time: Olympic led 3-0.

Broadmeadow 2 (Ash Brodigan, Lucy Jerram) beat Adamstown 1 (Kiarra Lewis) at Magic Park on Friday night. Half-time: Magic led 1-0.

New Lambton v Mid Coast - postponed

Points:

Olympic 33, Magic 31, Warners Bay 19, Maitland 18, Adamstown 16, Azzurri 15, Mid Coast 4, New Lambton 0.

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