West Wallsend SFC and Lambton Jaffas will meet for in a competitive clash for the first time in over 15 years.
On September 9, 2007, West Wallsend SFC and Lambton Jaffas met in the Grand Final of what was then known as the Northern NSW Division One competition at Johnston Park where West Wallsend SFC ran out winners at home to claim a place in the NNSW State League.
Fast forward nearly 15 years later and the two Newcastle-based sides once again meet at Johnston Park in Round 4 of the NNSW Australia Cup Preliminary Rounds - Southern Conference with a spot in the next round on the line.
For the Jaffas, they will be looking to progress further into the Preliminary stages having been knocked off 6-0 by Maitland Magpies last year and falling agonisingly short of a first national stage berth since 2017 after being closely defeated by Newcastle Olympic in 2021.
While for West Wallsend SFC, it’s the first time playing an NPL1 club in the Australia Cup since a double from Daniel McBreen helped Edgeworth Eagles scrape to a 2-0 victory in front of a packed-out crowd at Johnston Park in 2019.
West Wallsend SFC head coach Bailey Cox knows the tie against the Jaffas will be extremely tough, but he is aiming to do the club proud on Tuesday night.
“Look it’s definitely one of toughest teams we could have drawn but we have been here before.” Cox said.
“We will stick to the game plan and go into the clash with a winning mentality and aim to do the club proud."
Meanwhile, for Jaffas coach, David Tanchevski he will be looking to advance further into the competition while rotating his squad.
“We are coming off four wins in a row, and starting to find a little bit of form, we have a tricky game this Saturday, and then back up with the Australia Cup game,” Tanchesvki stated.
“Five games in two weeks is a tough ask, so we will be looking to rotate and give some of the reserve grade players some opportunity in the game vs West Wallsend."
David Tanchevski’s side are heading into the clash against West Wallsend SFC in extremely good form, wrapping up four straight wins on the bounce over Edgeworth, Broadmeadow Magic, Lake Macquarie and Adamstown Rosebud while sitting fourth in NPL NNSW.
However, West Wallsend have struggled for form lately with only one win in their previous four league matches.
The match between West Wallsend SFC and Lambton Jaffas is scheduled for Tuesday, 18 April, with kick-off set for 7pm at Johnston Park.
