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Newcastle Herald

National

Renee Valentine

Quick plays: All you need to know from a weekend of Newcastle sport

Marina Neil Melbourne City Newcastle Jets ALeague Wests (Organization) NDCA Newcastle (Organization) McDonald Jones Stadium Stockton (Geopolitical Entity) Jets

A-League action at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday between Newcastle Jets and Melbourne City. Picture by Marina Neil

NDCA Tom Locker Cup final action between Stockton and Wests at No.1 Sportsground on Sunday. Picture by Marina Neil

The Newcastle Jets were left to rue the one that got away after losing 2-1 to a 10-man Melbourne City at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday.

They now hit a four-week World Cup break and Jets coach Arthur Papas plans to make the most of it, saying his players should prepare for a "brutal" block of training.

Meanwhile, the Jets' female counterparts gained plenty of confidence out of a 2-2 draw against A-League Women heavweights Sydney FC in their final trial hit-out over the weekend.

They open their 2022-23 campaign in Brisbane against the Roar this Saturday and are targeting a return to finals.

The last time Newcastle finished in the top four was 2017-18.

Rain puts dampener on one-day final

It was an anti-climactic finish to Sunday's Tom Locker Cup final with Wests and Stockton eventually sharing this season's one-day spoils after a rain-affected affair.

Wests had arrived as two-time defending Tom Locker Cup champions. They won the toss and elected to bowl with Stockton's Logan Weston hitting 94 in a total of 4-222 from a slightly reduced 39 overs.

But the Rosellas' innings proved a non-event, managing to get in just one over in a wet afternoon.

There were no such weather issues on Saturday, as two-day action began in the Newcastle District Cricket Association competition.

Charlestown's Jed Dickson was one of three players, along with Ben Balcomb and Josh McTaggart, to reach three figures with the bat on Saturday.

All three are headed for the NSW Country Championships this week with Newcastle.

Pat Magann, who will also form part of Newcastle's NSW Country title defence, became the first Wallsend player since 1978-79 to claim a hat-trick in NDCA first-grade competition as the Tigers secured first-innings points and a 13-run lead in their match against Cardiff-Boolaroo.

Vilani salutes in $1m The Hunter

Vilana gave Godolphin, his bloodline and jockey Nash Rawiller, a second win in the $1 million The Hunter (1300m) on Saturday at Newcastle with a fighting effort to overhaul In The Congo.

Jockey Sam Clipperton declared Pierossa would only get better over further after she responded to hard riding to stretch out late and win the group 3 Spring Stakes (1600m) for three-year-olds.

King Frankel is headed for a break and will be aimed at the group 1 Sydney Cup (3200m) in the autumn after dominating the second edition of the $300,000 The Beauford (2300m).

Off the field, the fashion stakes were high as around 5000 spectators turned out for the biggest day of the year for horse racing in Newcastle.

What else happened

NSW Pride kept alive their Hockey One title ambitions for both the men's and women's national tournament despite mixed results in a thrilling last round.

Scotland may have fallen short of progressing to the knockout stage at the Rugby League World Cup in England, but Upper Hunter product Lachlan Walmsley walked away after soaking up every moment and was already looking ahead to France in three years' time.

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