This Sunday the Newcastle Jets will host the Queensland Roar in a replay of last season’s Preliminary Final. The Hyundai A-League Round 10 clash will no doubt be another epic encounter between two clubs who share a fascinating head-to-head record.
This Sunday the Newcastle Jets will host the Queensland Roar in a replay of last season-s Preliminary Final. The Hyundai A-League Round 10 clash will no doubt be another epic encounter between two clubs who share a fascinating head-to-head record.
Until the 2008 Preliminary Final, the Roar were unbeaten at EnergyAustralia Stadium in 4 previous games but the Jets overcame the Queenslanders 3-2 in an extra-time classic to send Newcastle through to their first Grand Final since the inception of the Hyundai A-League.
Head coach Gary van Egmond revealed today that he believes his team can overcome last week-s loss to the Central Coast Mariners and snare another win at home against the Roar.
“We-ve shown that we-re obviously a decent team but it hasn-t been often enough. We-ve actually shown that on various occasions that we can play some good football but we might not have got a result from it and that-s not going to be good enough. What we need to do is step that up.”
“Big (Sergio) Van Dijk up front is obviously a good player, the two boys in the middle of the park, (Massimo) Murdocca and (Matt) McKay, we need to match their energy, and they-ve got the x-factor in someone like Charlie Miller. We just have to be on our guard for all those players but more importantly we need to concentrate on us. If we get it right and we play well I think we can definitely win the game,” van Egmond said.
Scoring goals has been something of a concern to last season-s Hyundai A-League Coach of the Year, with the team only tallying 8 goals in the first 9 Rounds of the 2008/2009 Hyundai A-League season. It has been a point heavily emphasised by van Egmond to his chargers in training in recent times.
“All week it-s been about hitting the back of the net. It-s about the timing of runs and the placement of shot and obviously the final ball which gets delivered which gives the person in the front third the best option of either scoring or at least hitting the target,” explained van Egmond, who today named an unchanged line-up from last week.
Tickets for this promising encounter between the Newcastle Jets and Queensland Roar are available from www.proticket.com.au, or by calling (02) 4915 2345.
Match Details:
Sunday 2 November
Newcastle Jets v Queensland Roar
EnergyAustralia Stadium
Local kick off 5.00pm AEDT
Referee. Craig Zetter
Newcastle Jets Squad. 1. Ante COVIC (gk), 2. Adam GRIFFITHS, 3. Jade NORTH (c), 6. Jesper HAKANSSON, 7. Kaz PATAFTA, 8. Matt THOMPSON, 9. Joel GRIFFITHS, 10. Jin-Hyung SONG, 11. Tarek ELRICH, 12. Jobe WHEELHOUSE, 13. Adam D-APUZZO, 20. Ben KENNEDY (gk), 23. Edmundo ZURA, 25. Daniel PIORKOWSKI, 26. Mark MILLIGAN.
In. Nil.
Out. Nil.
Unavailable. 14. Shaun Ontong (ankle – indefinite), 15. Jason Hoffman (knee – season), 19. Jason Naidovski (Qantas Young Socceroos duties), 5. James Holland (Qantas Young Socceroos duties), 16. Ben Kantarovski (Qantas Young Socceroos duties), 24. Marko Jesic (Qantas Young Socceroos duties).
Queensland Roar Squad. 1. Liam REDDY (gk), 2. Andrew PACKER, 3. Josh McCLOUGHAN, 4.Craig MOORE, 6. David DODD, 7.Michael ZULLO, 8. Massimo MURDOCCA, 9. Sergio VAN DIJK, 10. Charlie MILLER, 13. Chris GROSSMAN, 15. Matt McKAY, 18. Danny TIATTO, 20. Griffin McMASTER (gk), 23. Tim SMITS, 24. Matt MUNDY , 25. Adam SAROTA.
In. 13. Chris GROSSMAN (promoted), 25. Adam SAROTA (short-term contract).
Out. 11. REINALDO (injured).
Unavailable. 3. Luke DEVERE (international duty), 9. REINALDO (injured), 12. Tahj MINNIECON (international duty), 14. Ben GRIFFIN (injured), 16. Hyuk-Su SEO (injured), 17. Mitch NICHOLS (international duty), 19. Isaka CERNAK (international duty), 21. Tommy OAR (international duty), 22. Robbie KRUSE (injured).
* Head-to-head. All matches (played 11): Newcastle Jets wins 6, Queensland Roar wins 3 (2 draws). In Newcastle (played 6): Newcastle Jets wins 1, Queensland Roar wins 3 (2 draws).
-ENDS-
