CHARLESTOWN coach Mark Wilson hoped it was a sign of things to come after his side lifted in the mud to get their Northern NSW State League season back on track with a 4-2 win over Weston on Sunday.
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In the only game to get on in heavy rain, Charlestown led after three minutes when Rene Ferguson climbed high for a header off a Daniel Bird cross.
Skipper Chris Cousins returned serve for Weston with a back-post header off a Nathan Morris free kick in the sixth minute.
Ferguson was in the thick of the action again when he showed great skill down the left side to get clear before crossing to Kane Goodchild, who scored in the 55th.
Scott Smith made it 3-1 two minutes later from the spot after Bears keeper Tim Pratt was judged to have pulled down Matt Tull.
Weston went down to 10 men shortly after when Jason Cowburn earned a second yellow card, the final one for dissent.
But the Bears had hope when striker Jamie Subat showed strength to hold off a defender while striking a classy goal in the 83rd minute before Mitch Wallace scored off a runaway counter-attack in the 89th to seal the win.
Wilson had labelled the game a must-win for his side, who moved to 13 points from 11 games. And he was happy they responded yesterday in tough conditions.
‘‘I could just tell from the warm-up and the way the boys were that we were up for it,’’ Wilson said.
‘‘For the first time in a long time we started the way we know we can.
‘‘We started off slowly this season, but all we needed was a game like that where everyone dug in and worked hard.
‘‘Hopefully it’s the start of stringing three of four together,’’ he added.
Weston coach Darren Elkin also saw the signs of a Blues revival early.
‘‘I always felt like they were up for the game more than us,’’ Elkin said.
‘‘I could see it in the warm-up. They were buzzing, shouting, you could tell they were approaching it with a must-win attitude.
‘‘We didn’t meet them at the same level unfortunately.’’
On Saturday, Jobe Wheelhouse was players’ player and Abe Wheelhouse scored as the brothers led Lambton Jaffas to a dominant 3-1 win over the Jets Youth at Edden Oval.
It was the Wheelhouses’ first game against their former club and the victory propelled the competition newcomers into the top five.
Jaffas coach David Tanchevski said their plan to press the three-man Jets back-line high up the park paid dividends as John Majurovski and Abe Wheelhouse scored off turnovers deep in defence in the 38th and 40th minutes.
Matt Kenny made it 3-0 in the 76th before Mitch Oxborrow scored with a stunning long-range strike with the last kick of the game.
Tanchevski said the Wheelhouse brothers were outstanding in the team’s third straight win.
‘‘They obviously wanted to play well against the Jets and they are really steering the ship well for us and controlling the midfield,’’ he said.
Also on Saturday, Edgeworth scored twice from the spot in the second half in a comeback 2-1 win over Valentine at Cahill Oval.
Nick Hills, who was sent off late for a second yellow-carded tackle, scored for Valentine in the first half.
Alex Palozzi converted the first penalty after he was deemed to have been brought down in the area early in the second half.
Joel Wood was fouled for the second penalty midway through the half, and Ali Parhizi made no mistake with the shot.
Caretaker Valentine coach Mick Hugo, who took over when Lindsay Tapp was sacked on Monday, said it was a big effort from his side after their week of upheaval, and he believed the first penalty was unwarranted.
