The Australia Cup Preliminary Round 2 in Northern New South Wales saw Jake McGuiness rack up 7 goals as Newcastle Croatia breezed through into the next stage of Preliminary qualifying.
Newcastle Croatia set an impressive standard in Round 2 of the NNSW Premilinary Rounds with a high-scoring victory over Merewether Advance FC. However, one player stole the show grabbing himself a 7-goal haul at Pasedana Oval.
The former Edgeworth Eagles player made the move to the Wickham-based club in 2021 as they returned to the Northern NSW Zone Football League Three after four decades of being defunct.
Fast forward to the present day, and McGuiness’s quality was on full display on Saturday afternoon as his side marched to a vigorous 13-0 win and Croatia coach, Josh Popescu ran out of words to describe his star man.
“Jake and the whole team have been putting in the effort since preseason kicked off for Croatia in January,” Popescu said.
“His 7 goals and the team's emphatic win, with goals from players in all different positions is simply a testament to the commitment and hard work we see.
“Not just from Jake but the whole team and how well they have been working together, with several goals starting from a solid defence, it goes to show we are here to play football this year."
While Josh Popescu pilled on the credit to McGuiness, the man who scored 7 labelled his teammates as the reason for his success on Saturday.
“I think overall it was a great team performance, we played the opposing team off the park and with that came lots of goals. I give credit out to every single player on that pitch that day,” McGuiness stated.
“Without them, I wouldn’t have scored 7 goals so my credit is owed to the boys, it’s always nice scoring 7 goals in one game, as it doesn’t come around often or barely ever, so for that I am happy with myself for the effort.
“Like I said before I wouldn’t have scored 7 if it wasn’t for my teammates who assisted me in scoring and created some great goal-scoring chances and we proved today we are a red hot team."
Meanwhile down the South Coast, Gerringong Breakers are starting to find form after their last 2 wins in the Australia cup picking a 5-0 win against Bass Hill Rangers FC and most recently a destructive 13-1 victory over Lithgow Workmens SC.
Their striker Joshua Hawker has been enjoying his name on the score sheet, putting away 2 goals in the first matchup against Bass Hill and following up with an impressive 7 goals in last weekend’s high-scoring victory over Lithgow Workmens SC.
The pace of Hawker has proved key for the Breakers recently, however, they’ve shown they have scorers all over the park netting 18 goals in the past 2 games.
Not only Josh but the whole team has been working hard on and off the pitch and they are looking to push as far as they can in this year’s Australia Cup according to the goalscoring striker.
“Coming from the District League in the Illawarra, we are looking forward to playing different teams across the cup and showcasing the quality of football on the South coast and competing with quality opponents,” Hawker said.
“I’ve really enjoyed playing with the Breakers, this is my second season with them now and I’ve been able to learn a lot from the coaches and senior players.”
“I’m definitely stoked to have scored 7 goals last game, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the boys around me giving me the chances. I am just trying to reward the build-up play and momentum starting all the way from the back line and the keeper!”
Newcastle Croatia play Northern League One side, Singleton Strikers on Wednesday while Gerringong Breakers will wait to see who they play in the upcoming Australia Cup Preliminary Rounds.
