Newcastle Olympic and Edgeworth responded from slow starts to the season to record convincing victories in round eight of the Northern NSW NPL on the weekend.
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Both sides were under pressure after just one win each from the rain-marred opening months of the season but they had little trouble disposing of Cooks Hill and Lake Macquarie.
Olympic downed Cooks Hill 3-0 on Saturday night at Darling Street Oval, while Edgeworth put four goals past Lakes at Macquarie Field on Sunday before the hosts scored twice late. The other match on Sunday, Valentine v Lambton Jaffas at CB Complex, was washed out.
Last season's Graham Jennings Medal winner Jeremy Brockie scored a hat-trick for Edgeworth, who moved to six points in five games.
Veteran Josh Rose was denied by a diving save in the 28th minute, only for Brockie to poke home the rebound. Brockie then hit a long-range strike in the 30th for 2-0. Rose scored off a nodded on long ball in the 42nd and Brockie made it 4-0 in the 61st with a one-on-one finish after a defender slipped over. Tapuwanashe Goora (85th minute) and Tom Parkes (91st) grabbed goals for Lakes but the damage was done.
Eagles coach Peter McGuinness said "it was a good step forward for us".
"The performance was pretty good," McGuinness said. "I was happy particularly with the effort when we didn't have the ball.
"The standard of how we've trained and played our training games has been really good. But we were always playing catch up for a large part of the group with fitness, so we're catching up there and how we want to play."
Olympic welcomed the return of Rhys Cooper from facial surgery, while recruits Malik Thom, Joey Langlois and Musa Kamara boosted the squad after a last-start 1-0 loss to Lakes. Cooper struck in the 42nd and 56th minutes after lead-up work from Kamara, while Jared Muller slid in Tom Davies' cross in the 48th. Cooks Hill lost Kev Davison to a second booking in the 71st.
Olympic moved to six points in four games. A hamstring injury to Kane Treble was the only negative for Joel Griffiths' side.
"Five guys have come into the team since the Lakes game," Griffiths said. "So it's pretty much a new-look side and I've got the personnel now to play a certain system, so I'm excited about that and how the boys responded."
On Saturday at Lisle Carr Oval, Braedyn Crowley scored twice, including the 85th minute equaliser, to give Maitland a 3-3 draw with unbeaten Charlestown.
Crowley put the Magpies ahead in just the second minute, firing home from a tight angle. Azzurri star Nigel Boogaard levelled in the 28th minute with a near-post header from a corner.
James Thompson did it all himself in the 43rd minute to put Maitland ahead before Regan Lundy made it 2-2 in the 49th minute, despite cries for offside. Dean Pettit then put the hosts in front with pace and a powerful strike in the 64th.
Crowley had the final say, beating a defender then hitting a strike from the right into the far bottom corner.