The Magpies sit third and the Bears fourth equal on 13 points, two points ahead of Newcastle Olympic in fifth on 11 points and a group of three teams Lambton Jaffas, Valentine and Charlestown Azzurri all on 10 points.

The Magpies finally broke down a stubborn Adamstown Rosebud defence to record a 2-1 victory on the road after trailing 1-0 at half-time.

The Bears prevailed 3-2 over Broadmeadow Magic after opening the scoring and then conceding the next two to go into the break trailing 2-1.

At Adamstown Oval, Maitland's Jimmy Thompson broke his 2020 drought with a superb strike from the edge of the penalty area in the 69^th minute to square the ledger.

Thompson was played into the area with a short pass from a free kick and unleashed giving the keeper no chance.

Five minutes later Braedyn Crowley capitalised on an errant Adamstown backpass. The Maitland striker saw off one Adamstown challenge and then coolly curled his shot past the keeper into the top right corner.

Magpies coach Mick Bolch said given the state of the competition every win was vital.

"They set up with 10 men behind the ball and we struggled to break them down. I can't knock the way we played we had about 70 per cent of possession but just couldn't get the ball in the back of the net in the first half," Bolch said.

"They got a good goal on the break off the post which went in and we just had to be patient in the second half.

"To the boys credit they produced. It was a great strike by Jimmy and a great finish by Crowley to get the points.

"All in all I was pretty happy with how we played. It was just the touch in the one per centers being not quite there but it will come."

The Magpies face in-form team Azzurri at Cooks Square Park on Sunday. Azzurri defeated Lambton Jaffas 2-0 on Sunday and defeated Newcastle Olympic 3-1 the week before to climb to 10 points to sit just outside the five.

The match is the final round before the competition is split into the two for the final four rounds before the finals begin.

The Bears opened the scoring through central defender Zac Sneddon in just the sixth minute at Rockwell Automation Park.

Sneddon started the play from the Bears half and finished off after an excellent assist pass from within the penalty area by Connor Heydon.

The Magic equalised in the 16^th minute and took a 2-1 lead into the break when James Virgili beat Bears keeper Scott Carter in a one-on-one challenge after springing the offside trap in the 36^th minute.

Aaron Niyonkuru got the Bears back on level terms when he scored off a rebound by the keeper just three mintues after the break.

Cooper Buswell got the Bears' third when he headed inside the box on the end of a superbly placed Nathan Morris free kick six minutes later.

The Bears were reduced to 10 men when Robbie Turnbull was red-carded in his 250^th game for the club, but managed to keep Magic at bay.

Weston are away to Valentine next week.