Cooks Hill coach Chris Zoricich said it wasn't pretty but he believed his side deserved their comeback 2-1 win at Weston on Sunday after a wholehearted but frustrating NPL men's campaign.
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Matt Berrigan was the star, earning then slotting a penalty in the 78th minute before knocking in the matchwinner off a Brock Berrigan cross in the first minute of stoppage time.
It was an unlikely result given Weston (13 points) held sway for much of the round 11 game. However, they scored only when Chris Hatfield hit a penalty in the 47th minute after he was fouled. Bears defender Angelo Calfo was red carded for a last-man foul at the death.
Cooks Hill were surprisingly in the relegation discussion, with just five points in eight games before Sunday, and Zoricich was relieved to see a change in fortune.
"It wasn't pretty at all, but we just dug deep," Zoricich said.
"We've been conceding too many .. so we spoke about not conceding to keep us in the game, so we managed to do that, although Weston had the ascendancy going into half-time.
"Second half, we didn't really play our possession game like we normally do, but I can't fault the players.
"For the hard graft they've been putting in recently and not getting much out of it, we deserved it."
Also on Sunday, third-placed Charlestown beat fourth-placed Valentine 3-0 at Lisle Carr Oval to move five points clear of them on 21. Jarryd Sutherland (31st minute) scored then struck the free kick for Rene Ferguson to head in two minutes later. Tyran Cousins chested down a cross then hit it home in the 67th.
In the other games to get on, top teams Lambton Jaffas and Broadmeadow dealt out heavy defeats.
Jaffas (30 points) stayed perfect 10 games in with a 7-0 romp over Adamstown at Edden Oval on Saturday. On Friday night, Bailey Wells scored a double as Broadmeadow (24) beat New Lambton 5-1 at Magic Park.
Wells had earlier that day learned his five-match ban for unsporting conduct, when making contact with a referee, had been suspended.
Jayden Stewardson, Tom Beecham and Will Ingram were the other scorers for Magic.
For Jaffas, Kale Bradbery scored a hat-trick to go to 11 goals for the season, three clear of his nearest rivals. Ben Hay, Matt Buettner, Scott Pettit and Michael Kantarovski also scored.
The Edgeworth v Maitland and Lake Macquarie v Newcastle Olympic matches on Saturday were postponed because of rain-soaked pitches.