The Newcastle Jets have fallen to the Central Coast Mariners 2-1 in the first F3 derby of the season.
The Jets took the lead through Thomas Aquilina in the 64th minute but the Mariners turned it around with two quickfire goals.
Brian Kaltak levelled the scores just two minutes after his side fell behind before an unfortunate own goal scored by Aleksandar Šuśnjar ensured the Mariners took all three points from the first F3 Derby of the season.
The Jets’ first big chance of the night came just before the hour mark when Dane Ingham arrived in the box to send an unmarked header toward goal.
The Newcastle fullback made good contact but couldn’t keep the effort down in a major let-off for the Mariners.
With the game in the balance at 0-0, Jets head coach Rob Stanton dipped into his bench and the decision to bring Ben Gibson on for Clayton Taylor led to instant rewards.
Straight off the bench and into the action, Gibson supplied the assist for the opening goal scored by Aquilina as the Jets took a 1-0 lead – an advantage they held for mere minutes in the F3 Derby.
Just two minutes after falling behind, the Mariners struck back and it was Kaltak who supplied the equaliser with a well-timed header. Jets keeper Scott misjudged his attempted interception of the lofted delivery and a slight touch was all Kaltak needed to divert the ball over the line.
From 1-0 down to 2-1 up in the space of 11 minutes, the Mariners took the lead through Aleksandar Šuśnjar’s unfortunate own goal after Lucas Mauragis’ cross into the six-yard box that wrong-footed the Jets defender.
The Jets now face a trip to New Zeland to take on Auckland FC on Saturday 30th November.
