A 55th minute strike from Marko Jesic helped the Newcastle Jets to an impressive victory over the Wellington Phoenix in front of 12,147 fans at EnergyAustralia Stadium tonight.
A 55th minute strike from Marko Jesic helped the Newcastle Jets to an impressive victory over the Wellington Phoenix in front of 12,147 fans at EnergyAustralia Stadium tonight.
The Jets- win continued their terrific form of late, as the side prepares for their F3 Derby with Central Coast next week and the Qantas Challenge against LA Galaxy on Saturday.
The first half was very much an arm-wrestle with the Jets having several chances early on to score the opener.
Defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley rose above the defence for an almost mirror-image header to that which gave him his first A-League goal against Adelaide last Saturday. On this occasion it sailed over the crossbar but the Jets- strong set piece had the alarm bells ringing for the Phoenix early on.
The Jets- best chance of the first half came from some clever lead-up work from Englishman Francis Jeffers, playing in his third game for the Jets after two impressive performances last week.
Jeffers managed to hold the ball up on the byline despite grappling with two Wellington defenders, getting it to Tarek Elrich to provide a great chance for Marko Jesic, whose powerful shot was deflected.
Clearly the danger-man on the night, Jesic completed a great run of play when he latched on to a one-two from Ali Abbas early in the second half, controlling the ball in front of goal to launch a right foot strike to the bottom right of the net.
Jesic was unlucky not to have two more goals to add to his tally after sending a couple of strikes wide following great lead-up play from the Jets midfield.
Midfielder Ben Kantarovski and defender Taylor Regan put in impressive performances, with Regan in particular doing a fine job at the back after replacing suspended captain Ljubo Milicevic.
Of concern for Jets coach Branko Culina was the depature of key defender Topor-Stanley, who was substituted for Jobe Wheelhouse in the 71st minute following a collision minutes earlier.
Even worse news on the injury front tempered tonight-s win with substitute striker Sean Rooney going down with a suspected knee injury that could rule him out for the remainder of the A-League season.
Tonight-s win sets up the much anticipated F3 Derby against Central Coast on Wednesday at EnergyAustralia Stadium.
The Jets- ‘Festival of Football- – five home games in 12 days – then culminates in the Qantas Challenge against the LA Galaxy on November 27.
CAUTIONS – YELLOW CARDS
Abbas 29th min
NEWCASTLE JETS FC 1 (M Jesic 55th minute) bt WELLINGTON PHOENIX FC 0
NEWCASTLE JETS UPCOMING GAMES
EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
Wednesday 24 November v Central Coast Mariners, 7pm
Saturday 27 November v LA Galaxy (Qantas Challenge), 7.30pm
