After a heavy defeat in the Foxtel Y-League’s opening round, Daniel McBreen’s young charges needed to respond in Sunday morning’s clash with Canberra United.
Respond is exactly what they did – three goals inside the opening 23 minutes laying the foundations for a big win at No.2 Sportsground.
The 6-1 victory was helped along by a number of faces familiar to Jets fans – Lewis Italiano, Bobby Burns, Kosta Petratos, Pat Langlois, and Jack Simmons all lined up in the starting XI.
It was one of those men, Langlois, who set up the opening goal by feeding the ball through to Blake Archbold. He played a one-two with the post, and slammed home into the top of the net to put his side ahead in the fourth minute.
Three minutes later, Newcastle had a chance from the spot when Canberra handled the ball inside their own penalty area – and Sam Donnellan made no mistake in slotting home to make the advantage two.
Chances continued to present themselves for Newcastle, and they again capitalised in the 23rd minute following an attractive passage of play down the left-hand side.
Blake Archbold and Cole Mutton played the ball between themselves nicely, before Mutton whipped in a low and hard cross with his left foot which Kosta Petratos tapped in at the near post to make it three.
Canberra did pull one back a few minutes later after Nikola Ujdur struck with a dink to beat the Jets defence and trim the deficit.
After scoring from the spot in the 23rd minute, Sam Donnellan earned his side another penalty in the 36th when he was bowled over by Canberra ‘keeper, Sam Brown.
This time it was Kosta Petratos who stepped up to take the penalty, and his stuttering run-up paid off as he found the bottom corner of the net.
Half time came and went, with Maki Petratos entering the fray in place of brother, Kosta but it was a different pair of first-team players who combined for the Jets fifth.
In the afters of a corner in the 53rd minute, Bobby Burns wound up and struck with his left foot from outside the area. His shot was screwed though, and a deflection meant that it found Pat Langlois inside the box who tucked home from close range.
Chances were at more of a premium as the second half wore on with Canberra tightening up and changes made on both sides. Noah James, Ryan Goodhew, and Riley Smith all saw gametime in the second half.
The Jets would strike once more before the game was done – Jack Simmons finished off a wonderful team move in the first minute of stoppage time to hand his side a 6-1 victory.
