Lambton Jaffas 1(4)-1(2) Edgeworth FC
Lambton Jaffas coach David Tanchevski said his side are thrilled after defeating Edgeworth FC 1(4)-1(2) in penalties to win the Men’s State Cup on Saturday afternoon.
The two sides battled it out for silverware in ice-cold and windy conditions at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility.
The Jaffas went into the match as the underdogs, with multiple first grade players ruled out from their squad. They had seven under-18s players in their squad, with three of them starting 7 under-18s involved 2 debuts
Edgeworth was in control for big parts of the first half as they kept possession and created chances.
An early chance from Baden Merhton forced Jaffas’ captain Ben Kennedy to pull out a top-shelf save to deny the shot.
Sam Ford was forced from the field for Edgeworth at the break after he suffered a knee injury.
Sam Webb from Jaffas thought he gave his side the lead after it looked like he snuck past the Eagles' defence and got the ball over the line, but he was ruled to be offside.
Edgeworth also had a goal chalked off after some fantastic combination play between Seth Clark and Ryan Feutz but the New Zealand striker was offside.
As the wind died down the game opened up, with end-to-end action from the two sides desperate to lift the Cup at full time.
The Eagles could have snatched the win in the 92nd minute as Clark’s free-kick was saved by Kennedy but deflected to the feet of Keanu Moore but his strike skyrocketed over the crossbar, which sent the game into extra time.
Edgeworth dominated in the first half of extra time and finally broke the deadlock in the 96th minute through Merhton.
A corner kick looked as if it was to be cleared away by Jaffas but as Matthew Cahill chested the ball down, it held up in the air which allowed Merhton to smash the ball on the volley into the back of the net.
But Jaffas didn't give up and responded with a wonder strike from Cruz Tanchevski. The 16-year-old debutant caught the Eagles against the run of play in the second half of the extra time outside the penalty area and struck the ball with pace past goalkeeper Ethan Lewis.
The two sides pushed for a winner, but the game was forced into penalties to crown the State Cup champion.
Each side missed their first spot kick, as Myles Gaffney (Jaffas) and Clark sent their shots over the crossbar.
Shaun Pratt, Thomas Waller and Cahill all netted their chances for Jaffas as did Ryan Feutz and Keanu Moore for Edgeworth.
But Joshua Dwyer’s miss for the Eagles put the game’s fate in Lambton’s hands. Blake Carter slotted his shot into the net to secure the first piece of silverware for the Jaffas in 2024.
Tanchevski said he could not have been prouder that his less experienced side held on until the end and got the job done.
“We had three under-18s boys start and it is just amazing to get the win,” Tanchevski said.
“The performance from the boys was really good and every single player stepped up.
“The young boys are really pumped. I am so proud of all of our younger players but it was a combined effort from the experienced boys and younger ones.
“This will be a match that our under-18s boys will never forget.
“I am so proud of how everyone went the extra mile and played so many minutes.
“There was so much effort from everyone with the mindset that they wanted to win and to have the determination to come back from 1-0 down is impressive.”
Jaffas’ coach said he was pleased with how his side stuck to the gameplan and said the silverware would be a big boost for everyone at the club.
“We knew that we didn’t have the experience on the park to match Edgeworth.
“We came out with a game plan to change our formation and be defense-focused with the hope to catch them on the break.
“The game plan worked well.
“The win is a good morale boost for the club and the players. It helps everyone immensely.”
Edgeworth coach Pete McGuinness was disappointed to not get the win and thought his side were the better team.
“To walk away without the win is really disappointing,” McGuinness said.
“I thought we had enough of the football in dangerous territory but didn’t take our chances.
“Overall I thought that we dominated with the ball and had some chances but we didn’t create as many as I thought we should have.
“They [Jaffas] were resolute in their defence.”
But McGuinness said he took lots of positives from his side’s performance.
“I was proud of the way we kept playing right until the end,” McGuinness said.
“It was good that we were able to give lots of players the opportunity to play plenty of minutes.
“At the end of the day, I was happy that we played 120 minutes of football where we were trying to go forward.”
In the Community Plate final, Newcastle Croatia FC were victorious over Inverell FC with a 6-3 win.
Croatia dominated in the first half and went into the break 3-0 up. But Inverell did not give up and got themselves back into the game to take the final scoreline to 6-3.