Charlestown Azzurri again showed their variety in attack to retake the Northern NSW NPL lead, while Maitland stayed on their hammer with another blitz spearheaded by their star strikers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Unbeaten Azzurri went to 25 points from 11 games, two points ahead Broadmeadow and Maitland, although the Magpies have a game in hand on their top-three rivals.
Charlestown downed Valentine 4-0 at Cahill Oval in their Wednesday night catch-up game, while Maitland beat Lake Macquarie 4-1 on the road.
Azzurri had four goalscorers in their comfortable win, which followed a 6-1 thumping of Lakes on Sunday.
Charlestown opened the scoring in the 20th minute when Harry Frendo produced a magic touch backwards for himself off a Jacob Melling cross to set up a one-on-one chance he buried.
In the 68th, Melling beat the keeper with a chipped shot into the top corner from outside the 18-yard box.
Riley Smith, Azzurri's top scorer this year with seven, made it 3-0 in the 72nd minute when he jumped on a poor touch in defence and shot from the top of the penalty area. Despite cries for offside, Ryan Frame capped the win in the 75th minute when he capitalised on a keeping mistake.
It was another pleasing display for coach Graham Law.
"I'm pretty happy with where we are right now, especially with our front five," Law said. "We're getting outcomes on things we've worked on. I like how we're playing, in terms of not relying on one area. We can score goals all over the park."
At Macquarie Field, Maitland led 4-0 at half-time with James Thompson and Braedyn Crowley again on song.
From a throw-in, Thompson beat three defenders before firing his shot for 1-0 on 10 minutes. Adam Blunden scored two minutes later with a back-post shot from a Crowley corner kick that deflected off the arm of Lakes striker John Majurovski.
It was 3-0 in the 26th minute when Thompson's attempted cross to Crowley was knocked in by Lakes defender Ryan Bercli. Thompson set up Crowley for an easy finish in the 37th minute after a quick transition from a turnover. Caleb Low got a consolation goal for Lakes in the 81st minute with a header off a corner.
Crowley leads the league on 17 goals, while Thompson has eight, giving them 25 of Maitland's 31 this campaign.
A double from Will Bower lifted Edgeworth to a 3-1 win over Cooks Hill at LMRFF at Speers Point.
Cooks Hill made a horror start when keeper Liam Beazley, on his starting debut, lost possession on his line under pressure from Jeremy Brockie, who tapped in for 1-0 in the third minute.
Bower struck in the 11th minute at a short corner with a first-time shot then pounced on a loose pass at the back in the 38th minute and finished one-on-one.
Cooks Hill's goal came via a Daniel Yaxley header in the 85th minute at a corner.
Edgeworth rose to fifth on 13 points from nine games.
MORE IN SPORT:
- Qld coach praises Knight's outstanding performance in Origin win
- Andrew Ryan inks contract extension as Souths coach in Newcastle RL
- Fringe players let go by Jets as Arthur Papas reshapes his roster: A-League
- Knights hooker Chris Randall is living out NRL dream he thought was gone
- Warners Bay on target for NPLW NNSW success as season midpoint approaches
- Greens coach urges forwards to lift and match efforts of backs: NHRU
- Newcastle Jets appoint new head of football operations
- Jets young gun Kirsty Fenton named in Young Matildas squad for NZ match
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark: newcastleherald.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News