The Australia Cup Round of 32 came to a close with a drama-packed trio of matches, as we got the first Cupset in this year’s tournament plus plenty of goals elsewhere.
A-Leagues sides Brisbane Roar and Adelaide United went through while in the surprise of the night, NPL SA’s Campbelltown City toppled the Cup holders Macarthur FC to make the Round of 16.
Newcastle Jets FC - 2 (Trent BUHAGIAR 12’, Clayton TAYLOR 58’)
Brisbane Roar FC - 3 (Ryan SCOTT O.G. 45+3’, Louis ZABALA 62’, Alexander PARSONS 118’)
Brisbane Roar came from behind twice to claim a 3-2 victory against a 10-man Newcastle Jets at Maitland Sports Ground.
The Jets opened the scoring in the 12th minute with Trent Buhagiar sliding in to score before goalkeeper Ryan Scott fumbled the ball into his own net just before the break.
Newcastle re-established their lead in the 58th minute with a superb debut goal to Clayton Taylor, but Brisbane’s Louis Zabala quickly equalised.
Despite Brandon O’Neill’s red card for the hosts in the 75th minute, Brisbane couldn’t capitalise, and the match went to extra time.
The decisive goal came in the 118th minute when Alexander Parsons bundled in Zabala’s left-sided cross to win the game for the Roar.
Northcote City SC - 0
Adelaide United FC - 2 (Craig GOODWIN 6’, Zach CLOUGH 85’)
Adelaide United downed NPL Victoria 2 side Northcote City 2-0 at John Cain Memorial Park to earn their place in the Round of 16.
Adelaide made the best possible start with Craig Goodwin’s powerful strike from the left of the box squeezing past Brandon Cuminao at the near post six minutes in.
United doubled their lead late in the second half with Zach Clough sending a well-timed half-volley into the net to confirm Adelaide’s progression in the Cup.
Campbelltown City SC - 2 (Shogo YOSHIKAWA 44’, Antoni TRIMBOLI 51’)
Macarthur FC - 1 (Lachlan ROSE 93+3’)
Campbelltown City pulled off the first upset of the 2023 Australia Cup defeating reigning champions Macarthur FC 2-1 at Steve Woodcock Sports Centre.
The NPL SA outfit stunned Macarthur right before halftime when some persistent pressing from Shogo Yoshikawa allowed the midfielder to curl one into the bottom right corner.
It got worse for the Bulls soon after halftime with Antoni Trimboli finishing off a well-worked move on the left for the hosts.
Lachlan Rose pulled a goal back for the visitors deep into stoppage time, but it proved too little too late as Campbelltown City went on to celebrate a sensational night in Adelaide.
