Straker, 17, perfectly timed his run onto a superb Chris Hurley cross in the 69^th minute and despite being sandwiched by two Maitland defenders he managed to squeeze the ball out and past Magpies keeper Matt Trott.

The Magpies kept pushing, but playing with just 10 men from the 37th minute when Jimmy Thompson was red-carded for dissent, they did not have the juice or numbers to overcome the deficit.

The teenager broke the deadlock and potentially Maitland's premiers trophy defence with the Magpies now sliding to a two-win and two-loss record and six points behind competition leader Edgeworth in the compacted 13-game competition.

The Bears in contrast are now a point clear of the Mapgies with two wins and a draw and sit in fourth place, equal of seven points, with Lambton who smashed Valentine Phoenix 4-0 in a series of catch-up games on Wednesday night.

Broadmeadow Magic's 3-1 win against Newcastle Olympic locks them in second place on nine points.

Lake Macquarie and Adamstown are both on four points after the Roosters, reduced to 10-men, had a 2-1 win over Rosebud.

Weston and Maitland took some time to warm up in the rescheduled fixture, with the opening stages bearing little fruit in terms of clear cut goalscoring opportunities.

The Magpies' highest profile new signing Braedyn Crowley thought he may have had the opener in the 28th minute, however his run was fairly clearly a tad early and the offside flag was duly raised.

The game took on a different complexion in the 37th minute when Thompson got a little too lippy for the referee's liking and was given a straight red for dissent. Facing the prospect of over half a game with reduced personnel, the Magpies wisely went on the back foot until the break in order to preserve scoreboard parity.

It was however very nearly the visitors who broke the deadlock after the restart. Just 15 seconds into the second stanza, Nick Cowburn unleashed a great strike from 40 years forcing a top drawer save from Weston's Scott Carter who leapt high to paw it out of the top corner.

The magical combination between Hurley and Straker, who had been on the ground for just eight minutes, proved the difference.

The visitors refused to die wondering and went close in the 93rd minute as Crowley found himself in an excellent position, but his twin strike attempts in quick succession were blocked by Nathan Morris and Marcus Duncan respectively.

The referee's final whistle was greeted by the customary symphony of car horns around the Workers Club and the Bears had sealed a memorable and crucial victory in 'El Clasicoal' - they have now won three of the past four such derbies.

Weather permitting, the Bears will return to their home digs on Sunday to take on a Charlestown Azzurri side whose results thus far probably haven't reflected the threat they pose.

The Magpies will make the trip to Hamilton on Saturday to take on a Newcastle Olympic side smarting from the midweek defeat to Broadmeadow - with just a point separating the two adversaries, it is sure to be an entertaining contest.