Jets captain Nigel Boogaard says Monday’s match against Perth Glory at nib Stadium offers Newcastle the perfect chance to put their disappointing round 16 defeat to Kenny Lowe’s purple-whites behind them.
In late January Boogaard was sent off for a second bookable offence in a game against Glory at Hunter Stadium that the visitors went on to win 6-1.
However the Jets have collected three wins and a draw from their five fixtures since that day to make ground on the Hyundai A-League’s top six, and indeed just two points separate seventh-placed Perth and the eighth-placed Jets ahead of Monday’s round 22 encounter.
Boogaard believes that personally and collectively the team will draw upon the memories of their loss to Glory in a bid to react to and improve the match outcome.
“I was disappointed personally for my efforts in the last game [against Perth] and I know a lot of the boys aren’t happy with the way that result went,” Boogaard said following the team’s first field session after Sunday’s F3 Derby win over Central Coast Mariners.
“We’ll be trying to turn that around and put that result behind us.”
“The boys will know what it felt like to come off that field after that result in front of our home fans.”
“So for us to go over there and get a result would be key,” he said.
As he has done for much of the season, Boogaard is likely to line-up alongside Daniel Mullen in the heart of Newcastle’s backline against Perth.
Boogaard and Mullen were teammates for a period at Adelaide United and reunited this season at the Jets, and on Wednesday Boogaard paid credit to his fellow defender.
“’Mullsy’ [Mullen] has been quality this year,” Boogaard said. “Anyone who has stepped into the squad in the backline has done a job, but Mullsy is probably the quiet achiever.”
“He’s [Mullen] always there, he’s always reliable, and he’s quite vocal on the field as well.”
“It always makes my job a lot easier too when you have got a lot of confidence in that centre-half partner.”
“I have played with Mullsy for quite a number of years now and I think our understanding of each other has come a long way, and hopefully we can continue to improve on that,” he said.
Perth Glory vs. Newcastle Jets – Hyundai A-League 2015/16 round 22
Monday 7 March 2016
nib Stadium, Perth
Kick-off: 8:00pm (AEDT), 5:00pm (local)
Social Media: Join the match conversation using #PERvNEW
Broadcast: Fox Sports 505
Radio: 1233 ABC Newcastle, ABC Grandstand Digital
