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AAP
AAP
Sport
Justin Chadwick

Lightning stops Macarthur-Newcastle A-League Men clash

Players were forced to leave the field as a storm hit the ALM game between Macarthur and Newcastle. (Steven Markham/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

The A-League Men clash between Newcastle and Macarthur FC at Campbelltown Stadium has been stopped at the 14-minute mark due to lightning.

Newcastle were leading 1-0 courtesy of an early strike by Trent Buhagiar when players were called off the pitch on Saturday night.

The original start time of the match was pushed back by an hour to 6pm AEDT because of extreme heat, but the decision backfired after a huge storm front moved through Sydney.

A break of at least 30 minutes has been called to allow the storm to pass.

Heavy wind greeted the players at the start of the match and the conditions deteriorated as a downpour hit the stadium.

"The wind was playing havoc and now there's lightning," Macarthur assistant Jacob Burns told Paramount.

"For the safety of all, we're waiting patiently. It's unusual circumstances."

The wind was so intense from the outset that an advertising sign blew onto the pitch and into the path of a player dribbling the ball in the fifth minute.

For one of Macarthur's early free kicks, the wind blew the ball forward before the kick could be taken.

When the ball was placed back onto its original spot, a Macarthur player had to hold it there with his boot so that his teammate could take the kick.

Buhagiar broke the deadlock in the eighth minute when he latched on to a horror clearance attempt by Jonathan Aspropotamitis to slam through the opening goal.

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