The Maitland Magpies will host Broadmeadow Magic in round 7 for a place in the Australia Cup round of 32 after an emphatic 5-1 win against the Weston Bears at Cooks Square Park on Saturday.
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Magic booked their place in the round 7 game with a 3-1 away win against Coffs City United. A date for for the game has yet to be set but it will be at Maitland and the winner will advance with the chance of playing against an A-League opponent.
Back in 2019 Maitland hosted Central Coast Mariners in front of more than 4000 fans at the Maitland Sportsground. The Mariners won 2-0 through a double to Michael McGlinchey who was part of the Bears line-up on Saturday.
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Some Magpies fans were hoping McGlinchey's involvement was not a bad omen when the Bears opened the scoring through a header by Cooper Buswell.
Kicking with a strong, gusty wind behind their back Weston had the best of the first 20 minutes but the Magpies worked their way back into the game.
An equaliser came when Braedyn Crowley was brought down in the box and Jimmy Thompson calmly stepped up to take the subsequent penalty with three minutes of overtime left to play in the half.
"We've probably done that here for four years now, when there's wind like this we always go into it and try to run home with it. To be realistic it's a two-goal wind today and to come in at 1-all was a big bonus for the boys," Magpies coach Mick Bolch said.
"It was a turnaround from our recent form when we started strongly and faded in the second half.
"We were off the pace for the first 20 minutes, but that was our third game in seven days and the boys were pretty sore coming into the game.
"That first 20-25 minutes they had some good rotations going through the midfield and it took us while to adjust and adapt our shape defensively.
"But once we did that and got our foot in the game we had the rest of the game really.
"We played some nice football and scored some good goals."
Joel Clissold gave the Magpies the lead with a kick from 35 metres out which took full advantage of the wind to wrong-foot Bears keeper Jacob Zissis.
It was a cruel break for Zissis who had been keeping well, but opened up the floodgates and Sean Pratt smashed home the Magpies' third after Zissis had blocked two shots only to see the ball bounce Pratt's way.
Braedyn Crowley stepped up and scored a double in clinical fashion, the first just a minute after Pratt's goal as celebrations began around Cooks Square Park.
The Magpies will learn in the next couple of days when they will host Magic in the Australia Cup. The other spot in the round of 32 will be decided between Newcastle City and Cooks Hill after they both won their round six encounters.
There next assignment is an away game against Adamstown on Saturday, June 18, in round 15 of the Northern NSW NPL season.
"This week will be all about recovery. That's our fourth game in two weeks, so it's more about managing the squad now." Bolch said.
"We'll probably do a light session on Tuesday night and prepare on Thursday night for the game against Adamstown.
"That all of course depends on what happens with the Cup but from what we've heard so far the game is likely to not be this Wednesday but the one after."
