CARL Thornton knows that when he walks out onto the Maitland Sportsground as skipper of the Maitland Magpies in Wednesday night's FFA Cup tie against Central Coast Mariners he and his teammates will be bringing to fruition the dreams and hard work of everyone involved at the club. Since joining the Magpies with his brother Liam for the 2016 season from the Weston Bears, it has become apparent that Maitland FC is more than just a football club to the the dedicated committee and hardworking volunteers. "This has become a [...]

THE Maitland Magpies' two most inspirational players, skipper Carl Thornton and former Socceroo Matt Thompson, return to the starting line-up for Friday night's crucial match against Lake Macquarie. Sitting on 27 points, just two points clear of Charlestown and three ahead of Lambton, the Magpies are taking no risks in what coach Mick Bolch has told his players is a must-win game. While Maitland FC fans and the wider community have been swept up in the excitement of next Wednesday's FFA Cup Round of 32 clash against Central Coast, the [...]

THE Magpies will learn on Saturday if they can replace the Eagles as the highest flying bird in Hunter football. The battle between the fourth-placed Maitland and top of the table Edgeworth could well decide the minor premiership for season 2019 and grand final favouritism. "Edgy has won the minor premiership four years in a row, they will be up for what really is the minor premiership game," Magpies coach Mick Bolch said this week. "If we beat them we go two points behind with three games in hand and [...]

Shooting from 20 metres, Thompson launched into the shot and for once Archbold was caught flat footed. Bolch said he was delighted with performances across the park. "Clarkey was an X-factor again up in the front third," he said. "Great work by Ready for the second goal after great lead up work by Clarkey. "We're starting to get full strength back now. You look at the bench today, we had Matt Thompson, Alex Read, Tommy Duggan. I thought the balance of the side was a lot better today." Bolch said [...]

THE Maitland Magpies showed off their NPL title credentials with an emphatic 3-0 win against Charlestown City Blues at Cooks Square Park on Sunday. The Magpies turned on the after-burner, after a scoreless first half, led by man of the match Jimmy Thompson and the irrepressible Ryan Clarke returning from a rib injury. The win lifts Maitland to fourth on the NPL table with 27, five points behind competition leaders Edgeworth but with three games in hand. A one-all draw for the Weston Bears against Newcastle Jets Youth leaves them [...]

THE Maitland Magpies and Broadmeadow Magic could not be separated finishing in a 2-all draw in what was billed as potential minor premiership deciding game at Cooks Square Park on Sunday. "We've still got a couple of games in hand so it was not a bad result after a pretty physical game," Magpies assistant coach Gavin Wolfe said after the game. After an eventful weekend of matches Edgeworth, who have played 15 games, top the table with 29 points after a 4-1 win against Hamilton after they trailed until the [...]

"A point's a point, overall it's not a bad result," Wolfe said. "The boys have had a pretty decent playing load coming into this game, it was a heavy pitch and we've got a pretty decent load of games coming up so not a bad result at all." Midfield stars Matt Thompson and Ryan Broadley played about 10 and 15 minutes respectively in their return from injury, but will have bigger roles in Maitland's next two fixtures an away game against Lambton Jaffas on Wednesday and at home next Sunday [...]

"He will certainly play a role in those three games." "Ralphy Broadley is back in training, so realistically the only ones we are missing at the moment are Grant Brown and Sean Pratt. "It's starting to come back together. Cowby comes in this week and Matt Thompson as well, so that's another two A-League players." "We all know that we've had a pretty threadbare squad for the past month and the young boys have stepped up." "We've won every game so it will be a tough call this weekend [...]