Clinical Warners Bay gathering momentum as NPLW NNSW enters second round

The ominous warning was issued after the Panthers came from 1-0 down to overpower Newcastle Olympic 5-1 in a rescheduled round-three fixture at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Tuesday night.

Warners Bay moved to 16 points and seized second place with the win, which came after they had conceded two late goals in a "disappointing" 4-4 draw with Adamstown on Saturday night.

"Olympic are a good side and we were a bit slow out of the blocks," Atkins said post-match. "The first 15-20 minutes was not at our level. It was just the same, simple little things like the passes not hitting the mark.

"But from around the 20th-25^th minute I thought we took control and probably should've been a lot more than 2-1 at half-time.

"The girls were pretty down about the game on Saturday night but we did a light session on Monday night, more of a bonding type session, a bit of fun and dinner and I think that helped and they really bounced back.

"It was not the 90-minute performance we want but we're getting closer."

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Laura Hall gave Olympic a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute on Tuesday night before Warners Bay struck back through Adriana Konjarski (28th) and Tara Andrews (45th) to be up 2-1 at the break.

Konjarski scored from the penalty spot in the 49^th and it was virtually one-way traffic from there. Elodie Dagg hit the back of the net from the edge of the area in the 65^th and Konjarski completed a match treble with a near-post tap-in in the 80^th.

The Panthers have the best attacking record in the league of 32 goals after seven outings. An in-form Konjarski has scored 17 of those and provided plenty of assists.

"AJ's been great, the runs she makes," Atkins said. "She's been a great asset for us. I thought Tara Pender was outstanding for us as well [against Olympic]. Our middle four were really solid.

"We've had two games in quick succession so we'll manage the players ahead of the weekend but we're looking forward to the second round.

"We're all up to date with our games, which is a good position to be in so we're happy. Obviously we could have been in a better position but it's early days and hopefully we can just build on each week now."

Warners Bay and Adamstown (7 points) are the only teams to have played all seven games from the first round. Aside from dropping points against Rosebud last weekend, the only other blemish in the opening round for the Panthers has been a 3-2 loss to unbeaten leaders Broadmeadow (18).

The Bay are scheduled to play last-placed New Lambton, who have already leaked 51 goals in five games, at Arthur Edden Oval on Sunday.

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