The 3-2 result is a famous win for the Bears against one of the favourites for the 2020 title and an ideal way to bounce back from last week's disappointing 2-1 loss to Newcastle Olympic when they let a lead slip.

It also adds even more spice to next week's 'El Clasicoal' derby against last season's premiers and grand finalists Maitland, who face Lake Macquarie City at Cooks Square Park today.

The Jaffas were a step up in quality from Olympic boasting a side filled with quality and bolstered by a number of high profile signings.

The Bears withstood a substantial volume of early pressure, but in the 19th minute the Jaffas were finally rewarded when very clumsy push in the box by veteran Weston defender Robbie Turnbull on former Olympic man Scott Pettit saw the referee point to the spot.

Pettit made no mistake from 12 yards, slotting home confidently in the bottom right corner and sending keeper Scott Carter the wrong way.

Bears coach Leo Bertos' charges were able to respond well in the 27th minute, when the Jaffas coughed up possession poorly in a critical area and Cooper Buswell collected the ball at the edge of the box.

Buswell drew Lambton custodian Ben Kennedy and coolly laid off to skipper Nathan Morris, who buried with great composure to level the scores.

Lambton's Tom Waller latched on to a through ball in the 35th minute and got to the byline where he cut back to Pettit, whose shot seemed relatively innocuous but was steered into the net by Zac Sneddon who wrong footed Carter for a very unfortunate own goal.

With the home side up once more, the onus was back on the Bears to create.

Their positivity paid off once more in the 40th minute as former Buds man Connor Heydon cut across goal from the right flank and found Aaron Niyonkuru.

The livewire attacker escaped the attentions of two Lambton defenders to cleverly finish from close range with limited space.

It would take until the 89th minute for the deadlock to be broken once again. The Bears won a free kick on the left and a teasing ball could not be cleared by the Lambton defence. After pinging between three players, it fell to Heydon who deposited the ball emphatically in the net.

An ugly late incident saw Luke Remington flatten Sneddon with a clothesline from behind, well after the ball had been played, in a reprisal of the pair's encounter last season at Bear Park.

Tempers understandably flared and Remington was dismissed only around 15 minutes after having come off the bench. A groggy Sneddon took time getting back to his feet after a brief all-in melée.

Ultimately the Bears hung on for a famous victory. It was a pulsating encounter and already looms large as a candidate for one of the matches of the year despite it only being round two.

The Bears will host last season's premiers and grand finalists Maitland next Sunday at 2:30pm in a fixture that has been dubbed 'El Clasicoal', as they will look to continue their winning form against their local rivals.

In the other game on Saturday, Newcastle City and Valentine played out a 2-all draw at the Darling Street Oval.