Maitland will lose Ryan Clarke but potentially regain Nick Cowburn when they host Queensland premiers Lions FC in the NPL semi-finals on Saturday (2.30pm).
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The Magpies, representing northern NSW for the first time as premiers, defeated Tasmanian winners Devonport Strikers 3-2 last Saturday at Cooks Square Park to move into the final four.
Clarke has been instrumental during Maitland's outstanding season and created all sorts of headaches for the Strikers on Saturday.
However, former Newcastle Jets midfielder/defender Cowburn's return should offset Clarke's absence.
Under the hosting-rights points system, which takes into account goals and cards from week one, Maitland secured a home semi-final against Lions, who defeated South Australian premiers Campbelltown City 2-1 on Sunday at home in a rematch of the 2018 grand finalists.
Campbelltown won last year's decider by the same scoreline. Wollongong host Perth in the other semi.
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The Magpies became just the second side from NNSW to progress past the first round in the national finals. Weston in 2014 were the first side to represent the region but they were eliminated at the first hurdle.
Edgeworth won the next four premierships and took the NNSW place in the competition. Their best performance was making the grand final in 2016, where they lost to Sydney United 58.
The Lions beat Edgeworth last year in the quarter-finals 1-0 and this season they claimed the Queensland premiership with 24 wins and two draws in 28 games before losing in the semi-finals 2-1 to Olympic.
Their team includes Josh Brindell-South, who played A-League with Wellington.
Maitland coach Mick Bolch expected their next match to be "a step up" after the win over Devonport.
Bolch said Cowburn, who had work commitments last weekend, would likely return for the semi-final but Clarke had joined Joel Wood, Grant Brown and Mat Swan as absentees.
"I couldn't be happier with the boys, they put themselves about," Bolch said after the win over the Strikers.
"We've just got to be more clinical. It's been the same thing all year. We have the habit of not being able to put teams to bed and it comes back to bite you, and it nearly could have."
The Magpies record-breaking year includes an FFA Cup round of 32 appearance and a first top division premiership and grand final appearance.
