The Newcastle Jets have defeated Sydney FC 3-1 in their Hyundai A-League round 16 clash this evening at Sydney Football Stadium.
The Newcastle Jets have defeated Sydney FC 3-1 in their Hyundai A-League round 16 clash this evening at Sydney Football Stadium.
English striker Michael Bridges netted a brace and set up another in a classy display to give the Hunter-based club a much needed three competition points.
The visitors signalled their intentions early with midfielder Jobe Wheelhouse picking up the ball 25-yards out from goal in the 18th minute before hitting a stinging drive on target which was held well by FC ‘keeper Clint Bolton.
Moments later and the Jets would take the lead when Korean dynamo Jin-Hyung Song won a penalty after being brought down inside the box by Rhyan Grant. The experienced Bridges stepped up to take the spot kick and made no mistake to give Newcastle the early advantage.
Young striker Sean Rooney looked dangerous in the back end of the half, going close on two occasions in the 30th and 34th minutes but was unable to convert his one-on-one opportunities.
At the other end, Grant was hoping to make amends for his earlier error, and nodded down for Terry McFlynn in the 36th minute, but the Northern Irishman hit his first-time volley just over the bar.
Five minutes into the second half, though, and Jets- skipper Matt Thompson burst onto the ball in the middle of the park before playing a delightful through ball for Bridges who would go on to slot his shot calmly underneath Bolton to double his tally.
Bridges would then return the favour on 58 minutes when he played Thompson clean through on goal to set up the Jets- third and all but wrap up the three competition points.
Sydney striker Alex Brosque pulled a consolation goal back in the 75th minute when Shannon Cole whipped in a left footed cross for substitute John Aloisi to knock into the path of Brosque to tap home.
Head Coach Branko Culina was naturally very pleased with his side-s performance, particularly given that the Jets had not previously defeated Sydney FC at the SFS since the inception of the Hyundai A-League.
“I-m feeling very well about winning today and it was great to get the three points. It-s very important that the players do get the credit, they were absolutely brilliant.”
However, Culina pointed out that his side will need to back-up to claim back-to-back wins for the first time this season when they travel to Hindmarsh Stadium to take on Adelaide United next Friday.
“We try very hard to put together two good weeks in a row and it-s disappointing when we can-t do that,” he said after the game.
Match Details:
Sydney FC squad: 1. Clint BOLTON (gk), 3. Stephan KELLER, 4. Simon COLOSIMO, 8. Stuart MUSIALIK, 10. Steve CORICA (c)( 7. Brendan GAN 67-), 12. Shannon COLE, 14. Alex BROSQUE, 15. Terry MCFLYNN, 19. Mark BRIDGE, 22. Sung-Hwan BYUN, 23. Rhyan GRANT (9. John ALOISI 46-)
Unused substitutes: 20. Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 2. Sebastian RYALL
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil
Newcastle Jets Squad: 20. Neil YOUNG (gk), 4. Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 5. Ljubo MILICEVIC, 6. Ben KANTAROVSKI 7. Jin-Hyung SONG, 8. Matt THOMPSON (c), 11. Tarek ELRICH, 12. Jobe WHEELHOUSE, 14. Michael BRIDGES (22. Kaz PATAFTA 59-), 15. Sean ROONEY (26. Ali ABBAS 88-), 25. Labinot HALITI (9. Sasho PETROVSKI 72-)
Unused substitutes: 30. Dion SHAW (gk)
Yellow cards: Jin-Hyung Song 1-, Ben Kantarovski 74-
Red cards: Nil
Sydney FC: 1 (Brosque 75-)
Newcastle Jets: 3 (Bridges 24-(pen)/51-, Thompson 58-)
Referee: Strebre Delovski
Crowd: 10,114
