NNSW WPL: Merewether, Broadmeadow, Mid Coast and Olympic winners in round 10

Magic retained a five-point buffer over second-placed Merewether with a 4-1 win over New Lambton at Arthur Edden Oval on Saturday as sixth-placed Mid Coast (12 points) kept alive their finals hopes by beating Thornton 3-0 at Cooks Square Park.

United (20 points) came from behind to down Rosebud 4-1 at Arthur Edden Oval on Sunday while third-placed Newcastle Olympic (19) produced a devastating second half in a 7-2 rout of Warners Bay, who stayed fourth on 15.

Adamstown's Emma Bates scored around the 40-minute mark but the hosts responded with two goals in three minutes through Rhali Dobson then Katy Gray to take a 2-1 advantage into the break. Tamara Nash extended the lead in the 57^th before Dobson completed a match brace in the 65^th.

Merewether host Magic next Saturday and can close the gap to two points ahead of their clash, which is shaping as the match to determine the minor premiership, with a win over Thornton in a rescheduled fixture Wednesday night. United also have a game in hand over Mid Coast.

"Adamstown played well; they move the ball really well," Ellis said on Sunday.

"They don't try to play 40-metre passes, just little one-twos and really quite good technical football, so they pulled us apart before we started to get on top. Second half we were pretty comfortable but we've still got a lot to do to get to where we want to be.

"Wednesday night is an opportunity to work on some of the things. We got into the final third so many times today but just weren't smart enough with our choices.

"We've got to work on that and get more clinical in front of goals. If we can do that then we're a lot further along our path."

Olympic coach Harmonie Attwill said patience proved key against Warners Bay after they went to the break locked at 1-1 at Darling Street Oval. WPL leading scorer Jemma House found the back of the net inside the first 15 minutes before Warners Bay's Matiesse Loretan buried a rebound from Jen Hoy's shot on the 30-minute mark.

But the hosts scored five times in a brutal 20-minute period early in the second half. Georgia Little scored in the 80^th to complete a match brace, House finished with a hat-trick and Jess Evans and Georgia Amess also got on the scoresheet. Hoy scored late for the Panthers.

"You have to be patient; you can't score off every forward ball," Attwill said. "You just have to sit back, let them play, know that if everyone does their job it will fall our way, and that's what they did."

Olympic back up to play New Lambton (4) in a rescheduled fixture on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, Maitland have announced Keelan Hamilton as their WPL coach for 2021. Hamilton coached New Lambton in their first two seasons and led the Eagles to the minor premiership-championship double last year.

Round 10 results:

Broadmeadow 4 (Maggie Quinn 2, Gemma Harrison. Maddie Dean) beat New Lambton 1 (Adriana Jones) at Arthur Edden Oval. Half-time: Magic led 2-0.

Mid Coast 3 (Emma Shipperlee, Jess James, Chelsea Hall) beat Thornton 0 at Cooks Square Park. Half-time: Mid Coast led 2-0.

Newcastle Olympic 7 (Jemma House 3, Georgia Little 2, Georgia Amess, Jess Evans) beat Warners Bay 2 (Matiesse Loretan, Jen Hoy) at Darling Street Oval. Half-time: 1-1.

Merewether 4 (Rhali Dobson 2, Katy Gray, Tamara Nash) defeated Adamstown 1 (Emma Bates) at Adamstown Oval. Half-time:

Herald WPL pointscore:

Broadmeadow 25, Merewether 20, Olympic 19, Warners Bay 15, Adamstown 13, Mid Coast 12, New Lambton 4, Thornton 0.