Despite coming from behind twice our Jets have fallen to a late Wellington Phoenix goal at Central Coast Stadium.
The Jets dominated the opening period and went close to opening the scoring on several occasions before a lightning counter-attack by the Phoenix resulted in a Jaushua Sotirio penalty, with the Phoenix flyer dusting himself off to convert the spot kick to give the Nix the lead.
Daniel Penha then equalised in the 42nd minute with a wonderful strike after Beqa Mikeltadze teed up the Brazilian just inside the box, and Penha’s low drive found the bottom corner to level the scores. But just as it looked like the sides would go into the halftime break all square, the Phoenix snatched the lead through Ben Waine.
The second half started brightly for the Jets and we equalised again in the 63rd minute when Penha knicked the ball back in midfield before exchanging passes in the box teed up Boumal, who fired it home into the roof of the net.
As we pushed on for a winner, we went close on several occasions but it was the Phoenix who stole all three points when David Ball ghosted into the box and headed past Weier to give Wellington a 3-2 victory.
Our Jets now head to Adelaide to take on the Reds on Sunday evening, 7:15 pm kick-off.
See the play-by-play review of our game below:
90+2′ Mikeltadze bends a freekick at goal but Sail manages to palm it away.
88′ Goal! WEL 3-2 NEW Phoenix take the lead through Ball.
86′ Another double sub as Ingham and Babalj enter the fray to replace Penha and Murnane.
83′ Murnane joins the yellow card list as he drags back a Wellington player.
81′ Silvera cuts back onto his right but fires across the face of goal!
78′ Penha tries his luck from distance but can’t direct his effort on target.
76′ O’Doherty picks up a yellow ticket after bringing down a Phoenix player.
72′ Double sub! Yuel and Silvera come on to replace Boumal and Siatravanis as we push for a winner.
65′ O’Doherty comes on to replace Arques.
63′ GOAL! WEL 2-2 NEW Boumal blasts it into the roof of the net after Penha tees him up in the box!
61′ Penha drives in the box and hits one on his right, but Sail does well to tip it over the bar!
58′ Mikeltadze gets space in the box again and Siatravanis has his header blocked before Thurgate fires straight at Sail.
57′ Thurgate lays it off for Mikeltadze and he catches it sweet but it goes just the wrong side of the post!
50′ Penha whips in a dangerous corner and Mikeltadze almost bundles the ball home before Jurman almost forces it home.
46′ The second half is underway here at Central Coast Stadium.
45+1′ Goal! WEL 2-1 NEW Phoenix retake the lead as Waine bends one past Weier into the far corner.
42′ GOAL! WEL 1-1 NEW Penha sweeps home from just inside the area after Mikeltadze finds him in space in the box!
40′ Siatravanis goes into the book for throwing the ball away.
39′ Murnane whips a dangerous ball into the box, Wellington only partially clear it and Hoffman is inches away from equalising!
33′ Thurgate spins in the box and tries to bend it into the far corner but it deflects out for a corner.
31′ Penha nutmegs a Phoenix defender and then strikes one from the edge of the box but Sail just manages to parry it away to safety.
29′ Wellington have a freekick 30 yards from goal and Sandoval tests Weier, but our debutant holds on comfortably.
25′ Goal! WEL 1-0 NEW Sotirio slots home the penalty and Phoenix take the lead.
24′ Penalty! Jurman brings down Sotirio and Wellington are awarded the spot-kick. Our skipper picks up a yellow for the challenge.
21′ Boumal tests Sail in the Wellington goal with a stinging effort from the edge of the area, before Penha is also denied as his low driven effort is kept out!
19′ Arques wins another freekick in a dangerous position and Mikeltadze steps up this time, but his effort is partially blocked by the wall
13′ Mikeltadze tries to bend one into the far corner but his effort drifts wide after good buildup play with Murnane and Thurgate
10′ Neat link-up play between Penha and Mikeltadze sees the latter setup Boumal for a strike from the edge of the box, but his effort doesn’t trouble the keeper.
6′ Boumal strikes the freekick well, but it clips the wall and is cleared away to safety.
5′ Beqa gets in behind and is dragged down on the edge of the box. Laws goes into the notebook. Dangerous freekick here!
KICK-OFF! Beqa gets things underway here on the coast!
The first match of tonight’s double-header here at Central Coast Stadium has finished, with the Mariners and the Victory grinding out a 1-1 draw.
WEDNESDAY 7:00PM: Our side is locked in for tonight!
WEDNESDAY 7:00PM: The Phoenix have confirmed their side: 20. Sail (GK), 6. Payne, 4. Wootton, 21. Laws, 19. Sutton, 14. Rufer, 23. Lewis, 11. Sotirio, 7. Sandoval, 18. Waine, 9. Ball. Bench: 8. Old, 13. Pennington, 16. Fenton, 17. Elliot, 32. Ott, 33. Suman, 40. Paulsen (GK)
WEDNESDAY 6:00PM: We’re here!
WEDNESDAY 9:30AM: Hoffman details the areas for improvement for tonight
WEDNESDAY 9:30AM: Here’s the full breakdown of our game including players to watch
WEDNESDAY 9:30AM: Papas has given his final word ahead of tonight!
