Last Sunday, striker Michael Bridges pulled out an outstanding display against his old club.
For footballers of any level, clashes against your former club on your old stomping ground are always ones to savour.
In round 16 of the Hyundai A-League away to Sydney FC on Sunday, Michael Bridges did just that, returning to haunt the Sky Blues with a simply sublime 59-minute football master class worthy of gracing any blade of grass globally.
Two goals and an assist before being given an early mark by Branko Culina visibly delighted the ex-Leeds United gun, who produced his finest performance in the gold clad jersey of the Jets.
“It was quality, I really enjoyed it,” Bridges told NewcastleJets.com.au at the team-s recovery session on Monday morning.
“It-s good to go back there and put on a performance against your old club,” he said. “More importantly for the boys we went there and got the three points and showed we are a capable force in this league.”
Although some fans may have questioned substituting the lethal striker with a third of the match still to play, Bridges and Culina had already determined a 65 minute limit on his participation in the fixture prior to kick off due to the hamstring injury which kept the Englishman out of the clash against Wellington Phoenix in round 15.
Indeed, Bridges paid tribute to Jets physio-s Adam Leslie and Paul Hazell, as well as sports injury specialist Dr. Neil Halpin for ensuring he even got the chance to take the field against the Jets- NSW rivals.
“They-re fantastic. They knew exactly how to play it,” he said. “I went and had a blood injection off Neil Halpin, which was fantastic and seemed to speed the healing process up.”
“I-ve never had this type of treatment before and I feel fantastic. So credit to them for getting me back, I-ll be paying Neil a visit this week to say ‘thank you very much-.”
With his confidence sky high following his sterling Sunday subduing second-placed Sydney, and his injury worries out of the way, Bridges and the Jets have now turned their attention on backing up their effort in the Harbour City against bottom-of-the-table Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium this Friday night.
Bridges knows this won-t be an easy task, and the whole side will need to be on their game if they-re to leave South Australia with maximum points.
“They-ll be fired up,” he said. “But we-re going there full of confidence and this is where we-ve got to try to put back-to-back performances together. That-s been our weakness and downfall this season, so we-ve got to go and do it.”
While Bridges did admit that in hindsight he-d liked to have had the chance to complete his hat trick in front of the visiting Squadron, Jets fans far and wide can be assured that if the marksman can maintain form anywhere near the level of Sunday, they-ll have many more magnificent Michael Bridges moments over which to marvel.
