Edgeworth have moved quickly to secure a return for South African keeper Shayne Van As after the surprise loss of Josh Low to the Victorian NPL this week.
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The Eagles were told on Monday by Low that he was heading to NPL 2 club Werribee City.
Keen to find an experienced replacement, coach Peter McGuinness was able to get Van As, who played with Edgeworth in their 2020 title double and started in the 1-0 grand final win over Maitland, to come back.
Van As played with Lake Macquarie in the NPL last season, then for Broadmeadow in their delayed round of 32 FFA Cup match against Western Sydney. This season he was with Toronto Awaba in the second division.
"We were left with only two keepers for three grades, so I had to bring someone in," McGuinness said. "The two underneath, Benny Conway and Jimmy [Shanahan] are young, so they need an experienced keeper around and we're pretty fortunate to pick up someone of Shayne's level, so I'm pretty happy."
He said the Eagles were easily able to fit Van As, a visa player, into their points cap. The club also added young defender Kieran Hayes this week during the second and final window for changes to the 23-man player points system rosters. Hayes, a former Jets youth player, has been regaining match fitness in reserve grade during his break from US college.
Edgeworth, fifth on 16 points from 12 games, have mixed their recent form, losing 3-0 to Lambton Jaffas and 2-1 to Broadmeadow in between a 3-2 win over Weston. They look set for a tussle with the likes of Weston, Olympic and Valentine for a spot at the bottom of the top five.
"We're just looking for a bit of consistency for 90 minutes," McGuinness said.
"We've shown in parts of games that we're good enough to beat teams, but it hasn't happened."
Edgeworth next play on Sunday at Jack McLaughlan Oval against unbeaten Charlestown, who have added Jets defender Taylor Regan and 2020 Graham Jennings medallist Rene Ferguson to their list.
Charlestown coach Graham Law said his squad had lost no-one in adding the star duo. Beau Wilkins, who was out for the season anyway with injury, comes off the list.
** Broadmeadow coach Damian Zane hopes his side can gain a winnable game away when the Australia Cup round of 32 draw is done on Wednesday night.
Like last season, Magic and Olympic have progressed to the main draw. However, this season clubs can draw interstate rivals again, after it was regionalised in 2021 because of COVID-19 restrictions.
"You talk to the players, and even the committee, and I think they want a winnable game away, somewhere nice, and then worry about an A-League team down the track," Zane said.
The 7:30pm draw can be seen on 10 Play or the cup's Facebook and My Football YouTube accounts.
Magic have made just one change to their NPL roster in the window, adding keeper Ben McNamara for the injured Nate Cavaliere.
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