Heskey inspires victorious Jets

The Newcastle Jets made it three wins on the trot after overcoming a rather uninspired Melbourne Victory outfit at Hunter Stadium this evening, extending their undefeated run at home against the Victory under coach Van Egmond. 
 

In front of 13 912 vocal Novocastrians, the Jets cemented themselves in the top two of the ladder, courtesy of crowd favourite Emile Heskey who brilliantly netted back to back goals in the 54^th and 57^th minute.

Van Egmond’s wish to work on controlling the game through their high tempo retention based game plan became obvious from the outset. However, both teams struggled to find their feet early, causing an arm wrestle to ensue in attempt to rid the congestion. Despite Emile Heskey offering a lot individually early on, his poor service that has plagued the Jets the last few weeks continued into the first half.  

The Victory overcame the weight of Jets possession in the first half to create the most opportunities, particularly late in the second half thanks largely to striker Marco Rojas. Several impressive saves from Birighitti were the difference.  

Van Egmond’s words in the sheds obviously resonated with the men in red and blue. Griffiths move into the centre, coupled with Zadkovich’s move to the right wing paid dividends immediately in the second half, with Heskey calmly netting a deflected cross from 19 year old Josh Brilliante in the 54^th minute.

The Novocastrian crowd again erupted three minutes later when Heskey latched onto a Dominik Ritter header into the six yard box, slotting an overhead kick for his fourth goal in the last three games.

The Victory struck back in the 71^st minute, with Archie Thompson breaking his Victory drought via a miscued clearance from Tiago Calvano.

Goodwin again showed why he has been touted as a future Socceroo, demonstrating class through his distribution from the left flank. His replacement James Virgili was equally impressive when he entered the game at the 79^th minute mark, consistently creating opportunities through his raw pace.

The Jets effectively wound down the clock in the final moments to deserve their gutsy win, triggered by the best half of football they’ve played this year. As Heskey left the pitch in the 85^th minute, the crowd rose as one in appreciation, and deservedly so.