Category: NewFM 1st Division game reviews

NEWFM Northern League One Round 9 Preview

Story and photo courtesy of Northern NSW Football

Match of the Round
Wallsend FC (5th) vs. Thornton Redbacks FC (4th)
Sunday 13th May, 2:30 pm, The Gardens 

One week ago, this would have been a mouth-watering clash between two undefeated sides, however after both teams had their unbeaten streaks ruined last weekend, this fixture between Thornton and Wallsend will be about returning to the winners’ circle and safely back inside the top four.

Although last week marked the Redbacks first loss of the year, they’re still chasing their first victory away from home despite only conceding one goal on the road and only six in total.

Wallsend on the other hand, haven’t lost a game at The Gardens so far this year, and as they now sit outside the top four for the first time this season, they’ll be looking to solidify their home ground as a fortress.

Wallsend’s coach Ben Edwards, affirmed his confidence in his team returning to winning ways but admitted he was expecting a tough battle against the Redbacks.

“We’ll bounce back,” Edwards said.

“We’re trying to make our home ground a fortress and make it a hard place for other teams to visit – not just because of the surface.”

“I’m expecting them [Thornton] to come out hard to try and get back on their winning streak, as we will be as well.”

Edwards also suggested that despite being held scoreless for the first time last weekend, that he wasn’t worried for his forwards and expected them to return to their attacking potential this weekend.

“It had to come eventually, so I’m glad we got it out of the way now instead of at the end of the season.”

“It’s just something the boys have to learn from.”

Wallsend FC

NEWFM Northern League One Round 8 Review

Story courtesy of Northern NSW Football

West Wallsend Bluebells SFC 2 (Joseph Holt, Josh Knight) def. Wallsend FC 0
Saturday 5th May, 1:00 pm, Johnston Park 

The Wallsend Derby is always a great clash that presents an entertaining day of football and once again that was the case at Johnston Park, as the home team surprised the Red Devils to win and deal their bitter rivals, Wallsend, their first defeat of the year.

Wallsend’s new striker Ty Goldsmith looked like he may have scored a spectacular goal from halfway, chipping West Wallsend goalkeeper Jesse Cook, but the ball heartbreakingly landed on the top of the net.

The Bluebells would capitalise on Wallsend’s near miss, and after a scramble inside the penalty box, Joseph Holt managed to put the ball in the goal to give his side the lead after 20 minutes.

Goldsmith and Wez Pryce had chances saved by Cook, and it looked like Jarrod Olivieri would make Wallsend pay and double the lead from the penalty spot, but Joel Magnee, Wallsend’s goalkeeper, made a great diving save to deny him.

In the second half, Pryce seemed destined to equalise the game from a Goldsmith cross, however, the ball hit the upright, and as the frustrated Red Devils attempted to attack to steal a point.

The Bluebells dealt the killer-blow when substitute and youngster Josh Knight scored his first goal for the season and sealed the club’s fourth consecutive victory – the first time they have in 11 years.

West Wallsend now astonishingly sit in third place, just two points behind league-leaders Cooks Hill, while Wallsend drops down into fifth.

NEWFM Northern League One Round 8 Preview

Story and photo courtesy of Northern NSW Football

West Wallsend Bluebells SFC (5th) vs. Wallsend FC (3rd)
Saturday 5th May, 1:00 pm, Johnston Park 

Due to the Hyundai A-League Grand Final, the first Wallsend derby of the season was moved to an earlier time slot and although many will be looking forward to the Newcastle Jets game, later on, there is no denying that this game featuring two of the oldest rivals in Northern NSW football will be one of the most exciting clashes to happen this weekend.

West Wallsend is fresh off the bye but prior to that, won their three last consecutive matches, the first time ever since 2013, making confidence at the club at an all-time high. However, the Red Devils are a side in great form too and are still yet to lose a match this season.

Wallsend’s newfound offensive weapon Ty Goldsmith has been causing havoc for opposition defenders and has contributed greatly to his side’s impressive goal-scoring record.

Wallsend’s coach Ben Edwards suggested that although the Wallsend derby is a massive event for the club, that they weren’t preparing for it any differently than a normal game.

“Nothing changes. There’s a bit more in it because you never want to lose a derby, but in the same token, we don’t want to lose any match.”

“I think they’ll be like us, fresh off the bye and ready to go again. They’re in-form so I’m sure they’ll make it very difficult for us to get a result, especially with it being at Westy.”

Edwards also praised Goldsmith for his recent performances and expected him to once again be a handful for the West Wallsend defenders.

“With Ty it’s an unknown every week. He’s always dangerous and can just make goals out of nothing.”

“I’d imagine they’ll be wary of that, but I think he’ll be dangerous no matter what he does.”

West Wallsend coach Gary Rowe stated that although he is aware of the attacking prowess that Goldsmith brings, he isn’t going to be giving him any special treatment and instead he’ll be cautious of every Wallsend player on the field.

“We won’t be giving him any more attention than we would give anyone else,” said Rowe.

“You don’t score five goals in a half against anybody unless you’ve got multiple weapons, so we would be silly focusing any of our time on one player.”

“If we focus all our attention on Ty, it’ll just make it easier for their other boys, so no, we won’t be giving any special attention to him.”

“I expect it’s going to be really difficult.”

NEWFM Northern League One Round 7 Review

Story courtesy of Northern NSW Football

Wallsend FC 5 (Sam Bradshaw x2, Ty Goldsmith, Wez Pryce, Travis McCabe) def. Kahibah FC 3 (Tom Butzmann x2, Murray Leyland)
Sunday 29th April, 2:30 pm, The Gardens 

Fresh off the bye, the Red Devils have retained their undefeated start to the year with a high-scoring victory against a poor Kahibah team that continues to underperform.

Wallsend flew out of the gates quickly with a goal to their new strike weapon Ty Goldsmith in under two minutes, before Wez Pryce scored a beautiful headed goal just a few minutes later.

Kahibah attempted to keep the ball and regain control, but the Red Devils’ attacking force was too much to handle for the Black & Greens as both Travis McCabe and Sam Bradshaw both scored classy goals to affirm their dominance and give them an unassailable lead.

A penalty was given for handball which was nicely slotted away by German import Tom Butzmann to spark some potential hope for the away side. However, that light was soon put out by Wallsend when Sam Bradshaw grabbed his second to give his team a 5-1 lead going into the break.

In a desperate attempt to get back into the game, Kahibah sent multiple players up into attack and managed to find another two goals – the first scored the penalty spot once again from Butzmann, and the second coming from Murray Leyland.

The deficit was just too much for Kahibah though, and Wallsend walked away with the points, retaining their unbeaten start to the year and their spot in the top four.

Wallsend coach Ben Edwards praised his squad’s offensive display and stated that although they were again beaten and poor in the second half, that getting the win was the all-important aspect.

“It was outstanding how we came out and pressed and won the ball. That may have taken it out of us in the second half too because we did come out so quickly and so intense in the first half,” Edwards said.

“It is always hard to defend and continue to play to your game-plan when teams throw five or six forward.”

“The key is to score more goals than the other team though, so if we do that, I’m not worried.”

NEWFM Northern League One Round 7 Preview

Story courtesy of Northern NSW Football

Wallsend FC (4th) vs. Kahibah FC (9th)

Sunday 29th April, 2:30 pm, The Gardens

 After receiving a week off due to the bye, Wallsend returns to their home ground, The Gardens, to face a Kahibah team that has underperformed all 2018 so far.

Having only achieved one win this season, Kahibah have struggled to return to the same form they showed last year and injuries to key men Nick Hartnett, Heath Kepreotes and Jamie Hadlow have further sunk their momentum.

Wallsend though, has been one of the top sides in the competition so far and have well and truly stamped their intentions of not only playing finals football but potentially challenging for the premiership as well.

The result this weekend will prove whether Wallsend is the ‘real deal’ this season, or if Kahibah has any chance of salvaging their 2018.

NEWFM Northern League One Round 5 Review

Story courtesy of Northern NSW Football

Wallsend FC 2 (Ty Goldsmith x2) drew Singleton Strikers 2 (Jordan Phelan, Tom Hume)
Sunday 15th April, 2:30 pm, The Gardens 

For the first time this year, Wallsend would finally get the chance to play at their home ground, The Gardens, however, although they continued their undefeated start to the season, they weren’t able to take all three points after an exciting battle with Singleton in a heated game that saw four penalties given just in the first half.

Wallsend was granted a bonus with the mid-week decision that formidable forward Ty Goldsmith was able to escape a second match suspension and play the match, but it was their opposition who started the match on top.

The Strikers pulled off a fantastic upset last weekend against Belswans, and they looked like they would again surprise onlookers with a hot start to the match when Joe Civello was awarded an early penalty kick, however, Jae Dawes regretfully pushed the ball wide of the upright.

No similar mistakes were made by his teammate Jordan Phelan though, who headed in a Jackson Cox free-kick unopposed minutes later, to put the away team into the lead.

Wallsend heightened their pressure though, and it lead to two penalties being given in quick succession to the home side, both of which were successfully knocked in by Goldsmith, taking his season tally to five.

This happened all before the Strikers were incredibly awarded yet another penalty that unfortunately saw disaster strike twice for Dawes, as he was unable to find the back of the net again, this time due to a reaching save from Red Devils’ goalkeeper Joel Magnee.

The second half kicked off with a game-changing moment as Matt Williams was shown a straight red card for elbowing, leaving Wallsend with ten men and from there, Singleton began to increase their intensity with the extra-man advantage.

Their efforts would finally see some fruition as Tom Hume was able to put away a scrambling goal that had already been saved on the goal-line twice to equal the game up.

Despite both teams having chances to win the game late-on, the game finished in a draw.

Wallsend FC coach Ben Edwards admitted his team didn’t play to their potential and that there were some definite areas that they needed to improve on before their next match in two weeks.

“We can definitely be a lot better,” Edwards said.

“We definitely need to work on the midfield and just closing that space more.

“We were a bit on our heels and needed to pick up the energy a bit more.”

Despite the draw though, Edwards confessed he was impressed with his side’s early form and was confident they can continue improving.

“I think we’ve done exceptionally well, especially for a team that was ranked to come near last by some people.

“As a whole, even with the changes and the suspensions, we’ve come through pretty much unscathed, so I’m pretty happy with what we’ve done.”

NEWFM Northern League One Round 5 Preview

Story courtesy of Northern NSW Football

Wallsend FC vs. Singleton Strikers
Sunday 15th April, 2:30 pm
The Gardens 

For the first time this season, the Red Devils will finally get the chance to play at their home ground, The Gardens, but their first real home game won’t be an easy one as they come up against an in-form Singleton side who will be fixed on ending Wallsend’s undefeated start to 2018.

To make matters more difficult for the home team, they may also be without top front-man Ty Goldsmith who received a red card and a potential two-match suspension in their Round 4 match against Cessnock City which will take a hit to their offence that has ultimately been their main strength thus far.

Ben Edwards, Wallsend FC coach, said although Goldsmith’s attacking prowess would be missed, he was confident in the players that would be replacing him.

“It’s definitely going to be hard to replace him up top. But I do have the quality there and depth to not make much of a difference.”

“Hopefully we can just go about our business like we have for the first four games.”

Edwards admitted that seeing Singleton beat Belswans was very unexpected and that it’s made he and his side take notice.

“That result surprised me really.”

“They’ve obviously got some good quality there to pull out the result against a top side like Belswans.”

Last season when Wallsend and Singleton competed against one another, both sides achieved a victory and had a drawn overall aggregate of 5-all respectively, highlighting the competitiveness viewers can expect this Sunday.

NEWFM Northern League One Round 4 Preview

Story courtesy of Northern NSW Football

Cessnock City Hornets vs. Wallsend FC
Saturday 7th March, 2:30 pm
Turner Park 

This week’s match-up between Cessnock City and Wallsend has all the makings of a great, exciting clash.

Both teams sit on the exact same points, have shown impressively strong starts to their 2018 campaigns and with emotions and ambitions buzzing around the clubs due to their sensational form, neither team will want that to come to an abrupt end.

On one side of the field, the Hornets pose one of the best defensive records, only conceding one goal, and have looked very well organised at the back with the likes of Greg Anderson and Josh Dwyer.

While on the other side, the Red Devils have flourished offensively and pose the best goalscoring record, eight goals in just three games, due to the efforts of Ty Goldsmith, Matt Williams and Sam Bradshaw.

Ben Edwards, coach of Wallsend, suggested that if his offence can continue striving as they have done in the first three games, then they will be hard to stop this weekend and although their defence has been rather weak, he’s confident it will sort itself out.

“We played them [Cessnock] in the Heritage Cup…and I’m expecting a lot more goals than there were in that game.”

“I am confident they [the attack] can score against any team in this league.”

“Our defence is a work in progress.”

“It’s a fairly new backline working together but hopefully in the next couple of weeks they can get it together and we can start scoring and not conceding so much.”

Cessnock City coach Brendan Slade admitted he was well aware of Wallsend’s attacking prowess but was confident his solid defence is up to the task of containing them.

“We’ve just got to keep the ball away from their dangerous players as much as we can.

“We just can’t let them get in dangerous positions. If we do, we have to shut them down pretty quickly. It’s as simple as that.”

NEWFM Northern League One Round 3 Review

Story courtesy of Northern NSW Football

Wallsend FC 3 (Matt Williams, Sam Bradshaw, Wez Pryce) def. Belmont-Swansea United 2 (Mitch Harper x2)
Sunday 1st April, 4:00 pm, Blacksmiths Oval 

For the second week in a row, Wallsend would play a ‘home’ match at their opponent’s home ground, but again, it didn’t seem to faze them as they ran out as impressive victors against last year’s Grand Finalists, Belswans.

After receiving a 9-0 drubbing at the same ground last season, the Red Devils kicked on this match in extremely different fashion as Matt Williams scored very early on to give his team the lead and all the momentum.

Wallsend were making all the early chances with last week’s scorers Sam Bradshaw and Ty Goldsmith, both coming very close to finding another as it seemed Belswans just weren’t able to match the intensity displayed from the ‘home team.’

Wallsend’s gusto would eventually pay off though as Bradshaw eventually got his goal after a crazy, scrambling effort inside the box which was followed by a stunning strike from new-man Wez Pryce, to give the Red Devils a commanding 3-0 lead.

Young forward Cameron Lodge tried to propel Belswans back into the contest in the second half with a scintillating run past multiple Wallsend defenders and low cross to Sean Matthews who just missed the goal, and it seemed that energy began to spark the rest of the team as Mitch Harper finally got one back for his team and the momentum in their favour.

With only minutes remaining, Harper again found the back of the net, but it was an unfortunate case of ‘too little, too late’ for the boys from Blacksmiths and Wallsend continued their impressive, undefeated start to the year.

Wallsend coach Ben Edwards, stated that his side hadn’t contemplated the huge loss they suffered at the hands of Belswans last season and he was just focusing on their own game.

“We didn’t think about it at all,” Edwards admitted.

“There was only about two of the eleven from that game.”

“We’re better off than we were last year.”

Edwards praised his team all across the park for their “high-tempo football” and said he was very impressed and happy with the win.

“It was a game of two halves really.

“Our first half was incredible.“We were just trying to match it with them.”

NEWFM Northern League One Round 1 Preview

Story and photo courtesy of Northern NSW Football

Toronto-Awaba Stags vs. Wallsend FC
Sunday 18 March, 2:30 pm
Lyall Peacock Field 

Toronto-Awaba will host a renewed Wallsend team at Lyall Peacock Field for their first game of the season.

After an awfully disappointing campaign in the Ampcontrol Heritage Cup where they didn’t score a single goal, Wallsend will be hoping to put last weekend behind them and new coach Ben Edwards believes his side is still capable of big things this year.

“We’ve been working on playing forward, getting into the right areas and playing the right balls and it’s been working right up until the Heritage Cup,” said Edwards.

“There’d be alarm bells if we weren’t creating the chances I think. We’re still creating the chances though, just unfortunately sometimes they don’t come off in football.”

Edwards stated that despite Toronto-Awaba keeping rather quiet about their signings throughout the pre-season, that his side is still anticipating a strong opposition.

“I’m expecting a lot.”

“They always bring something decent to the table when we play them.”

For Toronto-Awaba, they’ll, unfortunately, be missing two first graders in Michael Bru and Hayden Jensen.

Coach Adam Routledge admitted that they may struggle to gel together defensively towards the start of the year, but their attack will be a big strength.

“Our defence is where we’ve worked on in pre-season,” said Routledge.

“It might take us a few rounds to get going.”

“We’re a fairly attacking side, we’ve definitely got some go-forward.”

Routledge confessed he hadn’t researched his Round One opponent’s all too much, stating that he expected a tough game, but he was mostly focused on his own side.

“They’re [Wallsend] usually pretty physical and obviously competitive – which is what you want to start the season really.”

“I know it’s the old cliché, but we’re just worrying about us.”