Braedyn Crowley produced a five-goal haul to lead Maitland to a 6-0 win over Adamstown in National Premier Leagues Northern NSW at Cooks Square Park on Tuesday night.
The match was a rescheduled fixture and the second straight win for the Magpies, who beat Edgeworth 2-0 on March 19 then had not played for two-and-a-half weeks as wet weather continued to wreak havoc on the competition.
The win on Tuesday night propelled the Magpies to seven points after three outings and top of the table on goal difference.
All of the goals came inside the first and last 20 minutes.
Crowley, a two-time NPL NNSW leading scorer, found the back of the net in the third, eighth, 70th, 72nd and 85th minutes. James Thompson scored in the 13th minute.
But Magpies assistant coach Gavin Wolfe said the game was closer in parts than the scoreline suggested.
"We got out of the blocks really quick," Wolfe said. "Our transition was really sharp. We were playing forward really quickly and we caught Adamstown on the hop. Then we plateaued out a little bit, started to play a bit slower and second-guess some of those passes we were playing instinctively.
"Adamstown came back in the second part of the first half and if you'd just driven in the gate you probably would've thought they were leading. They're a young team, they're fit and they just kept on coming at us and they worked their way into the game.
"Paul Bitz was outstanding for us in goals. He saved a penalty in the first half and probably two one-on-one opportunities. They were very persistent."
In the end, the difference was Maitland's ruthlessness in the opening and latter stages.
The Magpies next face Weston, who have played just once this season due to a string of postponements, at Weston Park on Saturday.
Lake Macquarie produced their first win under new coach Keelan Hamilton when they beat Newcastle Olympic 1-0 at Darling Street Oval in their rescheduled clash on Tuesday night.
The only goal of the game came from the penalty spot in the 87th minute and was scored by Dylan Burston after Abdulla Okla was deemed to have been felled in the box.
Olympic's Dino Fajkovic was red-carded in injury time after a late collision with Burston left the Lake Macquarie player requiring stitches to his face.
The Roosters, who opened their season with a 1-1 draw against now second-placed Charlestown (7), jumped from ninth to fourth place on four points as they eye defending premiers Lambton in round six on Sunday.
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