The Newcastle Jets have been defeated 3-1 by the Central Coast Mariners in front of over 9,000 fans at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The Jets started the match brightly and had two shots inside the first five minutes courtesy of Jaushua Sotirio and Reno Piscopo.
The Jets piled on the attacking pressure and were awarded shortly after.
Dane Ingham made a bursting run from his own half to cross the ball for Jaushua Sotirio who had his shot saved by Mariners goalkeeper Danny Vukovic. From the resulting corner, Beka Mikeltadze’s header was met by Sotirio at the back post to tap home and make it 1-0 for the Jets.
The Mariners found their way back into the game with their first shot on target as Sam Silvera found his way past the Jets defence to fire a shot and make it 1-1 in the 28th minute.
The Jets continued to pile on the pressure but the first half stayed at 1-1.
The Jets started the second half with momentum and had the first real chance when Ren Piscopo found space in the middle to play in Jaushua Sotirio who forced Vukovic into yet another big save.
The Mariners took the lead with just their second shot on target as Marco Tulio found Sam Silvera in the box who tucked his shot away past Michael Weier.
The Jets found themselves down to 10 men when Brandon O’Neill received his second yellow card in the 60th minute.
The Mariners rounded out the result when Marco Tulio received the ball from an unlucky ricochet to make it 3-1.
The Jets fought hard to get back into the contest and were unlucky to not find the back of the net through Thomas Aquilina and Trent Buhagiar but Vukovic made a number of key saves.
The Jets now face an away match against Sydney FC on Saturday the 29th of April. Kick-off is at 5 pm.
