THE Maitland Magpies have pulled off a huge recruiting coup signing utility Nick Cowburn from the Newcastle Jets. On holidays in Europe, Cowburn confirmed with the club this week he would join the Magpies from the start of July, signing off his correspondence saying that he was "looking forward to helping you win the premiership". "We're delighted, Nick's a huge addition to our squad going into the second half of the year," Magpies football manager Mick Mirisch said. "He will add a whole new dimension to our FFA Cup and [...]

MATT Swan scored a double for Maitland and Liam Wilson got one for Weston as the two Coalfields sides recorded expected but important wins in Northern NSW NPL action on Sunday. The Magpies sealed their 4-2 away win against Valentine with a special goal in overtime featuring young guns Louis Townsend and Tommy Duggan. After skipper Carl Thornton forced a turnover, Joel Wood fed the ball back to Townsend who passed the ball across the top of the penalty area to Duggan. Duggan stepped back into play drawing two opponents [...]

MAITLAND Magpies earned a place among the best 32 football teams in Australia with 2-1 win against Hamil- ton Olympic in round seven of the FFA Cup on Tuesday night. A roar went across Cooks Square Park as the referee finally blew his whistle after a tense five minutes of second-half stoppage time in which both sides had chances to add to their score. But in the end a goal off a superb Liam Thornton corner in the third minute of the second-half and a penalty by Joel Wood in [...]

THE Maitland Magpies are calling on the city to get behind them in their quest to make the FFA Cup round of 32. The Magpies host Hamilton Olympic in a crunch round seven game on Tues- day night after beating Boambee Bombers 7-2 in their round six clash on Saturday. The prize for Tuesday night's winner is national exposure with the place in the round of 32 against A-League teams and other qualifiers from state competitions. There will be free entry for all local football club players with one [...]

THE Maitland Magpies face North Coast Football side Boambee Bombers without key players Matt Thompson and Ryan Broadley in Saturday's round six FFA Cup encounter at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility. The Magpies will be favourites but will need to be at their best, football manager Mick Mirisch said. Mirisch said Thomson and Broadley were both five to six weeks away from returning to action and the Magpies would also be without Sean Pratt, who is heading overseas on holiday on Sunday, if they progress to round seven. [...]

IF THE loss of key midfielder Ryan Broadley for up to six with a broken hand wasn't bad enough, the Magpies will also be without experienced Matt Thompson for a number of games. Thompson aggravated a calf injury and pulled out before Wednesday night's 4- 3 FFA Cup win over Charlestown City. Broadley finished last weekend's NPL clash with Adamstown Rosebud in some discomfort with his hand swollen and medical staff feared it could be broken. That was confirmed after an x-ray on Tuesday. "He'll be missed, but I've [...]

TO DESCRIBE it as season defining would be an exaggeration, but there's no question that this week is a big one for the Maitland Magpies. At the start of the week coach Mick Bolch had to deal with the tricky challenge of an NPL match against Adamstown Rosebud, followed by tonight's midweek FFA Cup match against Charlestown City Blues (7.15pm kick-off), before tackling the high flying Jets Youth team on Sunday. All this on the back of a shock four-nil thumping the previous weekend by Hamilton Olympic. But it [...]

THE Maitland Magpies' coaching staff make no bones about - they're looking for a response after last weekend's 4-0 drubbing against Hamilton Olympic. They get the chance to atone when they take on Adamstown Rosebud at Cook Square on Sunday, and nothing less than a win will suffice. "Some games you just pack up your bags and move on, and that was one because nothing went right for us," football manager Mick Mirisch said. "We had been pretty consistent before that, so it came out of nowhere." And what [...]

MAITLAND Magpies coach Mick Bolch didn't mince words: "It was as bad a performance as we've put in during my time here." He was reacting to the Magpies' surprising 4-0 loss to Hamilton Olympic on Saturday. There is no doubt this hot and cold Hamilton side was having one of their hot days, but it was difficult to see this result coming. The Magpies, after losing their first game of the season, had strung together five impressive performances that included a win over Edgeworth and creditable draws against the [...]