Newcastle Olympic celebrate Australia Cup match-up against Melbourne City with NPL win

Olympic were beating Phoenix 2-0 at Cahill Oval in the catch-up game as the club drew a home match against A-League heavyweights Melbourne City in the cup's round of 32.

NNSW Football's other representative, Broadmeadow, drew an away clash with Victorian NPL side Bentleigh Greens.

Olympic's draw made it back-to-back hosting of an A-League opposition, after they took on Macarthur last year at Newcastle No.2 Sportsground when on debut in the knockout's round of 32. A date and venue were yet to be confirmed.

Magic hosted Western Sydney in the cup at the same ground, losing 3-0, last year, when COVID-19 restrictions meant clubs could not draw interstate rivals.

On Wednesday night, Jared Muller starred as Olympic scored twice in the first half on the way to victory, which lifted them over Edgeworth (16) to 18 points.

After a failed clearance at an Olympic corner, Muller eluded defenders in a crowded goalmouth to set up Malik Thom for the finish in the 15^th minute.

Muller then scored his sixth goal of the season, putting away a one-on-one chance in the 45^th minute.

At Macquarie Field, Weston rallied after the departure of coach Leo Bertos 24 hours earlier to down Lake Macquarie 5-2 in another catch-up on Wednesday night.

Interim Bears head coach Anthony Richards was pleased with the response from his players.

"Overall, we deserved to win and had the better of it for the majority of the game," Richards said. "The energy levels were right up. It was a cool night and that helps.

"We hadn't changed too much from what Leo was preaching, just a couple of little tweaks here and there, and it was good."

The Bears led when Moustafa Mohammad hit a strike into the top corner in the 10^th minute. Lakes equalised in the 52^nd through a back-post finish from Campbell Ross. Chris Hurley's strike in the 54^th put Weston back ahead and Zac Sneddon fired a shot from a tight angle for 3-1 in the 60^th.

Ross struck again for 3-2 in the 64^th, but Hurley got his double with a deflected strike in the 71^st to restore the two-goal lead. Connor Heydon sealed the three points in the 84^th minute.

Weston jumped a spot to sixth on 17 points. Cooper Sargent (hamstring) was injured in the match, while Michael McGlinchey (calf) was sidelined.

Defending premiers Lambton Jaffas came back to defeat Maitland 3-1 at Cooks Square Park in an intense catch-up clash on Wednesday night that ended with both sides a man down.

Fourth-placed Jaffas went to 20 points in nine games and denied Maitland (26), who are third on goals, a move to outright top spot after 12 matches.

It was the first league meeting this season between the top two clubs of last year and a chance for Jaffas to hit back after their 6-0 loss to the Magpies in the cup.

James Thompson put Maitland ahead in the 50^th minute but Ben Hay equalised eight minutes later with a volleyed strike. Kale Bradbery put the visitors ahead in the 75^th when he pounced on a poor touch in defence.

Magpies defender Zach Thomas (83^rd minute) and Jaffas livewire Luke Remington (84th) were then shown second yellow cards for a foul and dissent respectively, before substitute Kai Bradley got his first top-grade goal to ice the win for Lambton.

Jaffas coach Shane Pryce was proud of his underdone side's effort to fight back in a match that he said had grand final intensity.

"We hadn't played many games leading into it, so the test for our boys was mentally were we going to show up and compete against a team that's flying," Pryce said.

"Our defensive effort individually and as a team in that arm-wrestle that went on for nearly 90 minutes, I couldn't be more proud of my guys."

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: