Newcastle Jets storm home over Melbourne Victory

A colourful crowd of 17,245 turned up to Ausgrid Stadium tonight, patriotically cheering their Newcastle Jets to a 2-1 win over the Melbourne Victory in Round 9 of the Hyundai A-League.

Jets supporters heartily welcomed the visiting side, in particular, Victory attacking-mid Harry Kewell with a ‘boo’ clearly indicating the crowd’s allegiance.

Whilst both sides showed glimpses of magic early on, it was Victory midfielder and Costa Rican international Carlos Hernandez, who ignited the match, scoring in the 19th minute. An assist from Socceroo, Harry Kewell created an opportunity for Hernandez to slot the ball past substitute Jets ‘keeper Matthew Nash giving the visiting side a 1-0 lead.

At the other end, multiple opportunities were created by Jets midfielders and strikers respectively in Zadkovich, Brockie and Haliti, lacking however, the ability to finish.

In the 25th minute the game became shrouded in controversy as Jets striker Ryan Griffiths was dragged to the ground by Victory’s Marco Rojas in the box, as Griffiths attempted to position himself for a bicycle kick on goal. Referee, Jarred Gillett handed Rojas a yellow for the foul and awarded a penalty kick to the Jets, which upon conversion by Griffiths, saw the game open wide-up, and the Jets leveling the match at 1-1.

At the other end of the pitch, Harry Kewell was brought down from behind by Jets’ Tiago Calvano, and was similarly awarded a yellow and a free kick 18 metres outside the box. The attempt on goal was easily handled by Byun who sent the ball flying out via a header, with a corner then played.

A minute of extra time in the first half did little to change the scoreline, with the teams heading into the sheds at 1-1.

The game heated up unexpectedly early in the second half with a beautiful cross by Kiwi International and Newcastle Jets’ playmaker Jeremy Brockie to Labinot Haliti who headed the ball past Covic to take the Jets to a 2-1 lead. Haliti was up to his old tricks again after he ripped off his shirt in celebration of his goal. Match ref Jared Gillett let him enjoy the moment before slapping him with a yellow.

Despite the Jets’ lead in the second, Melbourne Victory persisted in creating opportunities and remained strong in defence. However, the Jets were able to seal victory in the 87th minute after Ruben Zadkovich broke away from Victory’s defensive back line, going one-on-one with the keeper. His shot on goal was deflected away by Covic, allowing Ryan Griffiths to fire the ball into the back of the net, much to the delight of the crowd.

In the end, it was the crowd that clearly lifted the Jets to victory, seeing them take the three points ahead of their F3 derby re-match at Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford next weekend.


Newcastle Jets

Nikolai TOPOR STANLEY, Tiago CALVANO, Kasey WEHRMAN, Jeremy BROCKIE, Ruben ZADKOVICH, Tarek ELRICH, Jobe WHEELHOUSE (C), Sung-Hwan BYUN, Labinot HALITI, Matthew NASH (GK), Ryan GRIFFITHS.

Substitutes:

Ben KANTAROVSKI, Michael BRIDGES, Ali ABBAS, Jack DUNCAN (GK)

Coach: Gary VAN EGMOND



Melbourne Victory
FABIO, Petar FRANJIC, Leigh BROXHAM, Archie THOMPSON, Marco ROJAS, Diogo FERREIRA, Billy CELESKI, Carlos HERNANDEZ, Ante CONVIC (GK), Harry KEWELL, Adrian LEIJER (C)

Substitutes:

Grant BREBNER, Daniel ALLSOPP, Iska CERNAK, Lawrence THOMAS

Coach: Mehmet DURAKOVIC

The Football Sack - Player of the Year Points

3 - Carlos Hernandez
2 - Ryan Griffiths
1 - Labinot Haliti