Competition pacesetters Warners Bay handed finals hopefuls Charlestown Azzurri another reality check in the form of a 10-1 humiliation at John Street Oval in NPLW Northern NSW round 12 on Sunday.
Azzurri went into the match hoping to give a much better account of themselves than in a 6-1 loss to the Panthers in round five.
But Warners Bay produced another clinical display from the outset to hold a 6-0 advantage by the 23rd minute on Sunday.
The goals came thick and fast and from a range of sources. Elodie Dagg produced a hat-trick with goals in the 10th, 22nd and 56th minutes. Cassidy Davis (8th, 53rd), Adriana Konjarski (17th, 69th) and Lauren Allan (23rd, 62nd) all scored match doubles after Tara Andrews kickstarted the annihilation in the 4th minute.
The visitors bagged a consolation goal through Courtney Anderson in the 90th minute but will have plenty of soul-searching to do before their next outing.
The result elevated the Panthers to 28 points and into the outright lead after the match between second-placed Broadmeadow (25) and cellar dwellers New Lambton (0) set for Sunday at Alder Park was postponed due to a wet ground.
Warners Bay coach Craig Atkins credited the dominant performance to their fast start.
"We expected them to come out all guns blazing and knew we had to match them and I thought the start was outstanding," Atkins said. "Disappointing to concede that one right at the end but overall a commanding performance, which was good."
Azzurri stayed on 20 points and slipped from third to fourth after Newcastle Olympic continued their midseason revival with a 4-0 victory over seventh-placed Mid Coast in Taree on Saturday moved them to 21 points.
Charlestown coach Niko Papaspiropoulos said Azzurri "just didn't show up".
"It was the fundamentals that they did much, much better than us," Papaspiropoulos said. "This is a setback and we can't have another performance like that."
Olympic's win was their fifth straight and came after an improved performance from five days earlier when they only just edged Mid Coast 3-2.
Right-back Brooke Summers opened the scoring with a long-range effort in the 35th minute. Jemma House made it 2-0 five minutes into the second half before Keea Parrish (72nd) and Georgia Little (83rd) both found the back of the net.
Maitland moved to 19 points with a convincing 6-2 victory over what appears to be an imploding six-placed Adamstown (11) at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Saturday night.
The Magpies scored five unanswered goals before half-time. Bronte Peel set the tone for the match with a goal on the counter-attack in the opening minute before Mercedes McNabb (20th), Chelsea Greguric (24th, 38th) and Kiarra Lewis (45th) all scored.
Adamstown struck back with two goals in five minutes midway through the second half from Jenna Doyle (59th) and Kimmy Trappett (64th) before Sophie Jones iced the win with a sweetly struck free kick in the 85th minute.
Points: Warners Bay 28, Magic 25, Olympic 21, Azzurri 20, Maitland 19, Adamstown 11, Mid Coast 7, New Lambton 0.
