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Adelaide United overcame the fatigue from the 33 hour trip to the Hunter’s
capital, by recording an impressive 2-0 win over the Newcastle Jets in a
controversial encounter at H
In front of a parochial Novocastrian crowd of 14 868, the Reds ruined
Jets marquee signing Emile Heskey’s first run in the A–League by acquiring all
three points after goals from Dario Vidosic in the 2nd minute and Iain
Ramsay in the 76th.
John Kosmina’s men showed no
signs of lethargy despite only finishing their ACL campaign on Thursday, as Dario
Vidosic silenced the crowd within the opening two minutes after getting on the
end of a floated cross from new import Jeronimo Neumann.
The Jets dominated
the rest of the first half with an obvious retention based plan however struggled
to play out from the back, continuously attempting to play long balls to Heskey
into the stiff breeze with little effect. Newcastle had over 60% possession in the
first half yet struggled to make the most of their opportunities, leading all aspects
of the game except the scoreboard.
The Jets continued to
try and find Heskey, with his best chance coming from a cross in the 50th
minute from Neville but he barely made contact. Surprisingly in the somewhat physical
encounter the first yellow card went to Newcastle born Nigel Boogaard in the 51st
minute after a reckless challenge on Heskey.
The boisterous Novocastrian
crowd sprung to life after debutant referee Shaun Evans red carded Birighitti
for a highly controversial hand ball outside the box. The 10 man Jets could only
hold on until the 76th minute, with Vidosic again in the action, crossing
effectively to Ramsay who had the simple task of tapping it in at the far post.
The Reds continued to thwart
any possible Jets chances by effectively controlling possession in the final ten minutes. The Reds deserved their
gutsy win in trying circumstances, earning themselves the three points and
perhaps enough frequent flyer miles to book first class on the trip home.