Broadmeadow young guns on target late for chance on national Australia Cup stage

And, invariably, the youngsters given a chance rise to the occasion.

But even by Zane's standards, Broadmeadow's stoppage-time show to steal a place in the Australia Cup round of 32 from fellow top-three NPL side Maitland on Wednesday night was next level.

Maitland led in the third minute at Cooks Square Park when Braedyn Crowley finished one-on-one after a through-ball from James Thompson. The hosts looked destined to hold on before teenage substitutes Damon Green and Will Ingram scored in the 93^rd and 95^th minutes for a 2-1 Magic win.

Green was fouled by Adam Blunden then stepped up to convert the penalty before Ingram placed a header into the bottom corner off an Aaron Oppedisano cross to score his first goal for Magic.

Zane regularly had late success with his substitutes during his all-conquering run with Edgeworth and he has now guided Magic to back-to-back round of 32 cup appearances.

"I think it goes to show the depth," Zane said of Green and Ingram's heroics off the bench.

"Greeny will probably start on the weekend and you're comfortable in him starting.

"But all these guys accept that to have depth at this level you need to sacrifice a bit yourself for the good of the squad, then generally you play more games and end up with the same minutes anyway."

Both scorers played in the 3-1 victory over Coffs City to make the final-four NNSW game but were shuffled back to the bench against the Magpies.

"It's not from performance," Zane said of the move.

"It's just what suited, and we actually thought Greeny would be good impact and we also knew with Jake [Harris] coming back, we had to start him. And we felt [Ingram off the bench] suited the game as well. We were just very aggressive with our wing backs and it opened the game up a bit and we were happy to do that."

Zane was especially pleased for Ingram, who came to Magic in the first window for NPL roster changes this season after finishing with the Jets academy.

"It was a fantastic header," he said.

"It was great because he's a guy who scores goals and he's been so unlucky not to have a goal so far.

"I think that might be the catalyst. He's playing senior football, he's got his first goal and I'm hoping they start flowing now."

Zane was excited for the opportunity the national cup round will bring his players, especially those hoping to get another chance at a higher level. The televised draw is next Wednesday night.

"I guarantee that if you go on a run in the cup with a group of young players, someone is going to take notice," he said.

Ingram, Bailey Wells and Sam Donnellan are Magic players with recent Jets academy experience but Zane said "guys like Tom Beecham, Jeremy Wilson, Jacob Dowse are all still young boys as well and this puts them in the shop window".

Like Magic, Newcastle Olympic made it back-to-back round of 32 appearances with victory on Wednesday night, beating fellow NPL side Cooks Hill 3-0 at at Fearnley Dawes Athletics Field.

Olympic led 2-0 after Jared Muller headed in a cross from Rhys Cooper after a short corner in the ninth minute and Joey Langlois scored with a cracking, first-time volleyed strike from 25 metres out in the 22nd. Muller scored his second goal in the 67^th minute with a touch on a ball in from Kane Treble at the back post.

Olympic qualified for the cup's main draw for the first time last season and hosted A-League team Macarthur in a 3-0 loss at No.2 Sportsground. Magic will compete in the national round for the sixth time. Last year they lost to A-League side Western Sydney Wanderers 3-0 at No.2 Sportsground.

MORE IN SPORT:

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: