Although our side can no longer qualify for finals, that doesn’t mean they aren’t going to fight ‘til the end starting with Canberra this Friday away from home.
The Jets are coming off the back of a 2-2 draw with the Wanderers where Ash Brodigan nabbed a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser, but haven’t picked up a victory since late December.
They’ll be up against a Canberra side who produced a thrilling 3-all draw last time out when they met our Jets, and managed to secure a draw against Melbourne Victory during the week.
Despite only securing one victory this season, United currently sit just two points behind us on the table, and will be hoping to leapfrog us with three points.
Here’s the full breakdown of Friday evening’s bout in the capital.
CANBERRA UNITED V NEWCASTLE JETS
Date: Friday 25 February 2022
Kick-off: 5:25pm
Venue: Viking Park
How to Watch: Paramount+
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Played: 20
Jets: 3
Draws: 3
Canberra: 14
FINISHING ON A HIGH
Last week’s draw meant our finals hopes for this season have been dashed, however there’s still a lot to play for as we attempt to finish as high as we can on the table.
At time of writing, there’s only six points between us and the ladder dwellers Wellington Phoenix, and if we are to retain our sixth spot, a win is a necessity.
Our remaining four games see us play Brisbane twice, Melbourne City, and of course, Canberra and if results don’t go our way, our women face the prospect of falling down the ladder.
It’s been four years since our side finished higher than seventh, after claiming third in 2017/18 and fifth the season before that, and although semi-finals are off the table, we still have pride at stake and the desire to finish strong for our fans.
CANBERRA COLD STREAK
Since the beginning of the Liberty A-League, there hasn’t been many other locations we’ve struggled more at than in Canberra.
Over our 20-game history with United, we’ve only tasted victory in the country’s capital one time. That result came during our 2017/18 finals-qualifying season and we’ve lost on the other five occasions there.
This season could prove the perfect opportunity to end the drought as Canberra still haven’t grabbed a win at home this season with their sole victory taking place in Western Sydney.
Our women will be focused on bracing the storm and putting our bad luck in ACT to an end.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Ash Brodigan (Newcastle Jets)
Last week saw Brodigan nab her first goal in the A-League Women’s competition, and what a time to do it as she scored in the death to secure us a point.
The hometown hero has been a great success story this season after only joining the squad late in pre-season before putting in consistent performance, after consistent performance to truly solidify herself as a national league player.
The versatile midfielder will be hopeful of continuing her run of good form when we face Canberra with her creative passer and dynamic runs posing constant threats.
Brodigan can not only showcase her skill as a starter as she did last weekend, but also prove a vital spark off the bench as she has done four times this season, and is currently our second-most fouled player displaying her ability to get stuck in and trouble opposition players.
Grace Maher (Canberra United)
The young midfielder originally from Dubbo has certainly kicked-on from her star-debut season with Melbourne Victory where she helped the side to a premiership, and even scored in the Grand Final.
Now at Canberra, Maher is becoming a bit of a maestro in the heart of the midfield, controlling play with her terrific passing, but also strong-arming other midfielders out of the game.
The 20-year-old has scored twice, and managed two assists in conjunction with her team-leading stats of 33 passes per game, 20 key passes and 53 occasions where she’s won the ball in midfield.
Our midfielders will need to make sure she doesn’t have time on the ball this Friday, or it could prove a dangerous time for our side.
STATS & FACTS
We head into this game two points the good over our opponents on the table, and still have a game in-hand.
The upcoming hosts have conceded ten more goals than our side, however have also scored four more goals.
Understandably, both sides possess rather similar numbers when it comes to average possession – our Jets have seen 51.1% of the ball compared to Canberra’s 50.6% – while we also have similar passing records as our team only typically make ten more passes a match.
We still lead the league in saves per game, with an average of over 5 a game, and goalkeeper Claire Coelho will be hoping to continue in that vain as Canberra sit in the top three for chances created with a total of 21.
Our captain Cass Davis will equal the A-Leagues consecutive games record at 108 games – a record that former Jets Nikolai Topor-Stanley and Steven Ugarkovic also made when at the Jets.
