The Newcastle Jets youth team were beaten 2-0 by Broadmeadow Magic at Wanderers Oval on Sunday.
The Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets youth team suffered a 2-0 loss to Broadmeadow Magic in the NBN State League top-of-the-table clash at Wanderers Oval yesterday.
In a fairly even contest, a pair of defensive mishaps from the Jets proved to be the difference between the two sides.
The Jets now sit in second place on the NBN State League ladder on 18 points, with Broadmeadow on top with 21 points.
The Jets started strongly with Michael Finlayson and Andrew Hoole linking-up well down the right flank and testing the Magic goalkeeper with some dangerous deliveries into the box.
However, a left knee injury to Finlayson, which saw him leave the field after 15 minutes, left the visitors without some of their attacking punch.
Broadmeadow soon took advantage of a miscommunication between Jets defender Mason Campbell and goalkeeper James Fogarty to claim a 1-0 lead.
A long ball was played in behind the Jets defence and neither Campbell or Fogarty reacted in time to clear the danger, allowing Rhys Tippet to sneak in and poke the ball home into an unguarded net.
The Jets reacted positively to the setback and controlled possession for large parts of the remainder of the first half.
However, they lacked a cutting edge in the final third with the likes of Josh Small and Mitch Oxborrow being forced to settle for long-range shots at goal that failed to trouble the Broadmeadow goalkeeper.
It was a similar story for the majority of the second half – the Jets keeping the ball well but unable to fashion any clear-cut chances on goal.
Broadmeadow were a constant threat on the counter-attack and it was only a couple of reflex saves from Fogarty that kept the score line at 1-0.
In the end though, there was little Fogarty could do to prevent the Magic sealing the match with their second goal courtesy of Chris Berlin.
