The Newcastle Jets defeated Adelaide 2-1 in their Australia Cup Round of 32 clash at Maitland Sportsground.
The first chance of the game fell to the Newcastle Jets in the 4th minute. Max Burgess cut inside, away from his defender before cracking a half-volley which was destined for the top corner, only for Vartuli to push it over the bar. Alex Badolato also struck the post in the 11th minute after Kota Mizunuma found him in open space right on the edge of the box.
Despite the early dominance, it was Adelaide United who opened the scoring. Jonny Yull managed to get away from Wilmering before sliding a ball across the box into the path of Stefan Mauk. Mauk made no mistake from close range, tapping into the net to give the South Australians a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute.
The Jets were quick to sort themselves out, quickly establishing their dominance over the game once again as they held onto the ball and created several chances. 20 year old debutant Xavier Bertoncello had a chance from distance which just whisked past the upright.
It would be Ben Gibson who would even the scoreline for the Jets in the 31st minute. A searching ball from Aquilina found Badolato out on the right touchline. Badolato found Kota in space, who then slipped in Ben Gibson. Gibson managed to lose his defender before curling his effort into the bottom left corner past Vartuli.
The scores would remain at 1-1 at halftime, as the rain began to pour even heavier at Maitland. Two minutes into the second half, new signing Alex Badolato would score on debut to put the Jets up 2-1. Academy debutant Max Cooper found Wilmering on the left flank, who nutmegged Jonny Yull before delivering into the box. Wilmerings effort was headed out towards Max Burgess, who had his effort blocked before he dropped the rebound off to Badolato. Alex turned before drilling his shot from the edge of the box into the bottom right corner.
Even with the lead, the Jets continued to push for more goals, with Burgess narrowly firing over with another long-range shot just minutes after the goal. Aleksandar Šušnjar also had a shot from distance which was parried wide by Vartuli.
Ethan Debono, who was brought on for Bertoncello in the 62nd minute, had a chance to score on his professional debut in injury time. The Malta youth international was played in behind the Adelaide defence, but he was forced wide and his shot was eventually blocked by the retreating Luke Duzel.
The full time whistle came two minutes later, with the Jets securing a 2-1 win in Mark Milligan’s first competitive fixture as Head Coach of the Newcastle Jets.
Club Debuts: Max Cooper, Xavier Bertoncello, Lucas Scicluna, James Delianov, Alex Badolato, Ethan Debono
Professional Debuts: Max Cooper, Xavier Bertoncello, Ethan Debono
