An injury and suspension-ravaged Newcastle Jets limped away from a 4-0 mauling tonight in Wellington putting an end to a club-record run of seven unbeaten matches.
An injury and suspension-ravaged Newcastle Jets limped away from a 4-0 mauling tonight in Wellington putting an end to a club-record run of seven unbeaten matches.
Jets coach Branko Culina fielded an unfamiliar lineup at Westpac Stadium tonight after the mid-week losses of midfielders Ben Kantarovski and Ruben Zadkovich on top of suspension to Ljubo Milicevic and Kasey Wehrman.
Culina threw young gun Jacob Pepper and Slovenian striker Tomislav Misura into the fray while Marcello Fiorentini started in the midfield.
The Phoenix took full advantage of the untried lineup, racing to a commanding 3-0 lead by halftime through goals to Tim Brown, Marco Rojas and Chris Greenacre. A Dylan Macallister goal two minutes from full time completed a night to forget for the Jets.
Rojas terrorised the Jets defence all night, and it was his run down the right that set up Brown’s opener. Rojas got to the edge of the box, laid off to Greenacre, who crossed the ball in for Brown to head home.
Rojas doubled the tally in the 31st minute wohen Manny Muscat floated a ball into the back post, Macallister nodded it into the path of his young team-mate who slotted the ball past Matthew Nash.
The Phoenix’s third came three minutes before the break when Greenacre, who replaced Ifill, turned and fired in from close range. Nash was beaten but Tarek Elrich cleared the ball but was behind the line when he did so and referee Jarred Gillett, after only a moment’s hesitation, awarded the goal.
The Jets- best chance of the first half came in the 24th minute when Francis Jeffers glanced a header wide.
The second half saw a number of changes made, including Kaz Patafta for Tomislav Misura and Labinot Haliti was brought on for Jacob Pepper.
Haliti was quickly into the action forcing a smart one-handed save from Vukovic 10 minutes after coming on. Elrich had another effort saved by Vukovic on the hour mark but chances remained few and far between for the Jets as their golden run came to an end.
The Jets now look to their next game against the Melbourne Victory on Monday 27 December before a return to EnergyAustralia Stadium on January 3 against Sydney FC.
