Maitland Magpies travel to Cessnock City Hornets in round four of Australia Cup

Turner Park will host a Coalfields derby as the Magpies, a seeded team from the Northern NSW NPL, enter the competition for the first time.

The exact date of the fixture is to be confirmed though all games in round four need to be completed by Friday, April 21.

The draw on Tuesday, April 4 saw community and Northern League One teams who qualified through the first three preliminary rounds drawn against the 12 teams from the NPL Men's competition.

The Cessnock City Hornets are third in Northern League One after registering back to back wins including a 3-2 win over South Cardiff on Saturday night.

The Magpies meanwhile have had a slow start to their premiership defence, they sit in 11^th place on the NPL Men's ladder after dropping the last three games at home. They play Broadmeadow Magic at home on Easter Monday in a crucial clash.

The Hornets flogged Newcastle University 10-0 at home on Wednesday, March 22 in round three of the cup after sitting out rounds one and two.

At the Northern NSW NPL launch in February, Magpies co-captain Braedyn Crowley said going a long way in the Australia Cup this year was something the squad spoke about in preseason.

"Maitland obviously has high goals each year and we succeeded with one of them last year with the premiership and we want to do the double and get that grand final win," he said.

"But the club's ambitions this year is the Australia Cup as well - so that's a massive goal for us."

The Magpies and Hornets will be aiming to make the round of 32 which sees the competition expand to include both A-League teams and sides from across the country.

Maitland has fond memories of the Cup competition, formerly called the FFA Cup, after they reached the round of 32 in 2019 and faced A-League team the Central Coast Mariners at Maitland Sportsground.

More than 4000 fans crammed into the Sportsground that night as the Mariners won 2-0 in a game broadcast nationally on Fox Sports.

Following round four there will be a further three preliminary rounds to decide which two teams will represent the region on the national stage.

These two teams will also have the added bonus of playing off in the Northern NSW State Cup final.

The two highest ranking community clubs, a club not from the NPL or League One competition, will play off for the men's community plate.

75 clubs have entered the Australia Cup from Northern NSW Football this season, the most in five years.