Lambton Jaffas down Broadmeadow 2-1 in NPL men's grand final

The premiers looked set to be taken into extra-time by the young Broadmeadow Magic squad on Saturday night at Jack McLaughlan Oval before Bradbery struck in the second minute of injury time.

Bradbery had two defenders on him on the left side of goals but still found a way through to beat keeper Jack Pandel with a shot at the near post.

It gave Bradbery back-to-back grand final match-winning goals after his effort in the 1-0 victory over Maitland last year.

Papas put Jaffas ahead with a world-class strike from 25 metres out in the 52^nd minute. His lashing hit went in off the bottom of the crossbar, leaving Pandel with no chance.

Magic, though, will be ruing a mix-up at the back that led to the goal. Defender Ben Diamond headed the ball clear out of Pandel's hands before Bailey Newton provided the touch back to Papas.

Broadmeadow equalised four minutes later with a penalty converted by Jayden Stewardson after a controversial call on keeper Ben Kennedy.

Referee Cameron Burns called the foul on Kennedy after he appeared to collect Dom Brymora high while coming out and punching clear a free kick from Wells. Kennedy looked to get the ball first.

Stewardson made no mistake with the penalty, beating Kennedy to his left.

The win made Jaffas the first club outside of Edgeworth and Broadmeadow to win the title double in the Northern NSW top division for more than 25 years.

It came in coach David Tanchevski's first year back at the club. He was coach for their introduction to the NPL in 2013 and guided them to the 2014 championship.

"It was nice to come first year back and do the double, the first for Jaffas in the NPL," Tanchevski said.

"I guess I copped a bit of criticism coming here, saying you can't do better than last year. They won the grand final last year but now we've done the double. That's good.

"I thought we had the better of it in the first half and probably didn't take advantage of it, and left it open in the second.

"But I still think we controlled most of the game and I was pretty disappointed by the penalty. It looked a bit harsh.

"That evened it up but we didn't put our heads down after that. The boys kept going hard and got the rewards in the end.

"All the talk in the lead up was about them playing good football, but I thought they just played long balls, trying catch us isolated one v one up the top, but I thought we handled it well."

Outgoing Magic coach John Bennis was gutted after the game and said the late goal "was hard to take".

"We were pushing hard and it was hard to concede on something we'd spoken about, with Kale cutting back on his right foot and having a second defender close enough," Bennis said.

"Just a little moment that can just cost you. I just feel empty at the moment.

"I think as a whole it was pretty evenly contested. We had good moments, they had some moments."

Kennedy had earlier stopped a Wells shot to keep it 0-0 and he did well to grab a crisp strike from Will Ingram in the 87^th.

Substitute Jarred Baker had a one-on-one opportunity in the 65^th but was wide into the side netting.

Jaffas defender Riley McNaughton, a veteran of the club's 2014 and 2017 grand final wins, was named man of the match.

Jaffas were the more threatening early on Saturday night as Nikolai Topor-Stanley was brilliant repelling any attacks from Magic.

Broadmeadow, though, had the first decent chance when Bailey Wells' free kick was tipped around the post by Kennedy in the 12^th minute.

Pat Bond's header forced a comfortable save from Pandel in the 16^th and Bradbery shot over the bar in the 18^th.

Matt Hoole had Jaffas' best first-half chance but Pandel made a save low down to grab his shot in the 27^th minute.

Papas was just wide with a strike in the 28^th minute.

Riley Smith had a shout for a penalty in the 32^nd minute when he went down in the box under pressure from Hoole, but it was waved away.

Magic then had two great chances. Jeremy Wilson was put through on goal by Wells in the 34^th but his scrambling effort was denied low down by Kennedy's one-handed save.

Stewardson was then just wide with a header from the ensuing corner.

Pandel made an easy stop off a scuffed Hay shot in first-half stoppage time, which also featured yellow cards to Jaffas Papas, Bond and McNaughton.

Both teams fielded unchanged starting sides from their most recent matches.

The victory completed a four-game clean sweep for Lambton over Broadmeadow, who finished a point behind them in the premiership race.

In reserve grade, Edgeworth defeated Newcastle Olympic 3-0.