After the high of last week’s crucial 2-0 win over Valentine, there could have been a possibility of a let-down against the last-placed Bluebells.

But any possibility of that was quickly put to bed as the Magpies unleashed a first-half blitz to go into the break 5-0 up.

Joel Wood, Roger Dowdell, Chris Broadley, Ben Martin and Corey Fletcher all scored, before Martin and Broadley added to their tally in the second half.

Despite having five players hit the net, Magpies coach Graham Law chose to highlight his side’s defensive effort after the win.

Law was missing regular starters Murray Leyland and Matt Toohey out of his back four, along with fellow first-team regulars Harry Maguire and David Mudd.

It meant that Josh West was called upon to step in for his first game in the top grade this season and Law said West’s strong performance was a sign of the club’s depth.

“Josh has come in for us after not playing a minute in first grade this season and the way he played you would have thought he’d been there every week,” he said.

“It’s what has made this team, and this club, strong this season – there’s been times when we’ve need to look beyond our first 11 and when we have the guys who have come in have done an outstanding job.”

It was Maitland’s 11th clean sheet in 19 matches so far this season and Law urged his side to finish off the season with two more.

“It’s simple from here – we know we’ve got the players to score and win these games, so the challenge to my back four and goalkeeper is to keep clean sheets,” he said.

“We pretty much know if we keep clean sheets we are going to win this comp now, but that’s still a massive challenge for us and it all starts again next week.”

The Magpies host coalfields rivals Cessnock next Sunday before a trip to Lyall Peacock Field to face on August 17, with four points from the two games enough to seal promotion.

Elsewhere in round 19, Valentine kept up the pressure on Maitland with a 6-0 win over Toronto, while Belmont Swansea defeated Cessnock 4-2.