The win pushes Magic four points clear of rivals Olympic at the top of the ladder.

Valentine Phoenix moved into second place, two points behind Magic, after beating Toronto 3-0.

Four rounds remain in the competition, and Magic have matches against Toronto (away), Lake Macquarie (away), Edgeworth (away) and Azzurri (home).

Olympic coach Bobby Naumov conceded yesterday the minor premiership was no longer in his side's control.

"Up until today it was in our destiny, but today it is not anymore so we've got to rely on other results," Naumov said.

"The whole game was pretty even, I thought.

"If you look at it, neither of the keepers had to make too many saves, so I don't think either side created a hell of a lot."

Magic coach Peter McGuinness could not hide his delight after the win.

"I thought we were the dominant team. I thought we played a better-structured game than them and showed a will to win," McGuinness said.

But he said the win had not decided the minor premiership.

"It's in our advantage. It's ours to lose now, but there's still plenty of football to be played," he said.

In front of the biggest state league crowd of the season, neither side played champagne soccer but Magic had the extra touch of class when it counted.

Throughout the opening 30 minutes, both sides had limited opportunities until Peter Haynes delivered a superb cross from just inside the right corner.

Magic striker Ben Martin missed the cross but teammate Mason Palmieri did not, heading it in from outside the left post.

Olympic created more goalscoring chances in the second half, but Magic's Doug West continued to cause trouble for Hamilton's defenders.

The match was broken open in the 75th minute when a through ball by Brad Waters caught out the Olympic defence.

The pass gave Haynes a free run to beat goalkeeper Andrew Goldman, and he scored the easiest of goals.

Protests of offside in the aftermath of Hayne's goal fired up Olympic, and they began to assemble their attack.

Hamilton striker Chris Berlin added some spice to the match when he was yellow carded for a tackle on Waters. Soon after Olympic's Corey Fletcher was fouled in the box by David Baillie and Peter Juchniewicz converted from the penalty spot.

Weston kept their finals hopes alive on Saturday, scoring a solid 2-0 win over West Wallsend.

In yesterday's other games Edgeworth and Azzurri drew 2-2 and Lake Macquarie beat South Cardiff 2-1.