The Jets and Adelaide United have played out a 3-3 draw in Newcastle.
Newcastle Jets Head Coach Wayne O-Sullivan had sought to overcome the side-s disappointing start to the season today with a reshuffled line up to face Adelaide United.
Included in the squad was new signing Renee Cartwright who made immediate impact on the Westfield W-League last weekend against Melbourne Victory when she scored on debut.
Alongside Cartwright in the line up were Harmonie Attwill, making her starting debut after coming off the bench during Round 5, and Nicole Jones, making her Season 2 debut.
Notable absences were Carlie Ikonomou, Emma Stewart, Caitlin Jarvie and Kirstyn Pearce, all not selected, with teammates Tara Andrews, Hannah Brewer and Madeline Searl all on international duty at the AFC Under 16 Championships.
The rain began to set in as the game kicked off underneath a grey sky while Hensman struck a breakway for the Jets first presence in Adelaide-s half.
Jets Captain Hayley Crawford placed a strong header from midway in Adelaide-s half, but keeper Sian McLaren halted any chance before Newcastle-s Leia Smith could capitalise on the opportunity.
A tussle in the Jets goalmouth looked a good chance for Adelaide, but the Jets flushed the ball from the danger zone to maintain domination of the match.
A tricky play from Libby Sharpe in the backline coupled with Amber Neilson, Kate Hensman and Crawford shot the ball straight up the sideline, but were stopped short at the opposite end of the field and Adelaide awarded a free kick to the foursome-s dismay.
Crawford continued to display her assertive performance with shot stopped by the head of an Adelaide player before her own corner was met with a hand ball by an Adelaide defender just outside box.
The resulting free kick was taken by Neilson and paired with a dummy from newcomer Renee Cartwright flew straight towards McLaren only to be deflected off her hands to a waiting Stacey Day. With McLaren on the ground a second attempt by Day was stopped by Adelaide-s defence.
Adelaide were faced with their first quality opportunity of the game when Cockayne sent a well placed corner kick to teammates in the box but the shot was hit by Jets keeper, Alison Logue, over the back of the net.
Just moments later, Adelaide-s Renee Harrison sent a strong clearance over heads of the midfield to the frontline, but no one was waiting to convert the chance into the first goal of the game.
Newcastle found the opening goal of the match in the 19th minute when following some impressive lead up work Smith, clear of defence, scored with a strong touch straight across grass to pass McLaren.
Looking for their second goal, Hensman slipped the ball to Smith but the pair-s efforts were stopped by McLaren and the score remained at 1-0.
Adelaide-s Teneille Boaler gave her side reason to celebrate when she scored their first goal of the season with a strong shot from the centre of the field which flew straight past Logue for the equaliser.
Boaler looked for a second goal off a corner from the far side but was stopped by Harmonie Attwill before the Jets moved the game back into Adelaide-s half.
The Jets were awarded a free kick, taken by Neilson which ended with a shot across goals by Cartwright as her attempt to take the lead went wayward.
With halftime looming, the game looked set to remain gridlocked until Adelaide-s Quigley shot in a hectic goalmouth in the 44th minute to snatch the lead.
The Jets were looking to equalise during the second half as Neilson sent a ball to Crawford who was unable to score from directly in front of the goalmouth.
In a spectacular attempt for the Jets, Attwill chipped the ball to the top left corner of the goal but the ball fell short as the score remained at 2-1.
Stacey Day was awarded a yellow card in the 59th minute which left Adelaide with a penalty shot taken and converted by Quigley to extend her side-s lead to 3-1.
Crawford struck back in the 62nd minute with a goal to close the gap behind Adelaide and looked for another just minutes later but was stopped by McLaren.
In what appeared to be an almost certain goal, Boaler forced Logue to the ground to save a fourth goal from Adelaide.
Smith added her feet to the second half attempts with runaway from a well placed through ball but was kept out wide by Adelaide-s defence before teammate Cartwright showed off a bicycle kick attempt which was caught by McLaren
Boaler continued to trouble the Jets defence with a direct shot caught by Logue before the home side turned the play back in Adelaide-s half.
In the 80th minute, Renee Cartwright broke away from a pack of Adelaide defenders to equalise the score at 3-3 and putting the Jets in a prime position for the closing minutes of the game.
Trying to find a winning goal, Newcastle substitute Loren Mahoney made her presence known with a brilliant attempt right of field.
Nearing fulltime, Quigley found possession in front of the Jets goals to spark concern in the home side-s camp until Logue stopped Adelaide-s campaign for a final goal.
With the score at a stalemate and five minutes of injury time on the clock, both teams were eager to find the back of the net to claim their first victory.
Cartwright took a final attempt on goal, but was unable to boost Newcastle to their much desired first victory of the season.
Despite displaying an impressive attacking performance and coming away from the game with just one point, Jets Head Coach Wayne O-Sullivan is happy to have claimed the side-s first points on home turf.
“Obviously we wanted the three and we went for the three, the girls came out and did a fantastic job and we knew that for us to get any success in the Semi Finals we have to win more games than lose so next week we have to go to Sydney and find a way of beating them,” he said.
Match Details:
Newcastle Jets 3
Adelaide United 3
Wanderers Oval, Broadmeadow
Referee: Kate JACEWICZ
Newcastle Jets line-up: 1. Alison LOGUE (gk), 2. Elizabeth SHARPE, 3. Pelay INGLES, 5. Stacey DAY, 6. Amber NEILSON, 7. Gema SIMON, 9. Kate HENSMAN, 10. Hayley CRAWFORD (c), 15. Renee CARTWRIGHT (22. Nicole JONES 81-), 18. Leia SMITH (8. Bronte BATES 77-), 21. Harmonie ATTWILL (4. Loren MAHONEY 69-)
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Emma-Kate DEWHURST,
Yellow Cards: Stacey DAY 60-
Red Cards: Nil
Goals: Leia SMITH 19-, Hayley CRAWFORD 62-, Renee CARTWRIGHT 80-
Adelaide United line-up: 1. Sian MCLAREN (gk), 2. Ebony WEIDENBACH, 3. Renee HARRISON, 7. Racheal QUIGLEY, 11. Georgia CHAPMAN, 12. Katerina BEXIS (13. Lauren CHILVERS 65-), 14. Donna COCKAYNE (6. Thomai KEZIOS 92-), 15. Tenneille BOALER, 16. Christina PAPAGEORGIOU (c), 17. Karina ROWETH, 18. Rochelle KUHAR
Substitutes Not Used: 19. Nenita BURGESS, 20. Kristi HARVEY (gk)
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Goals: Tenneille BOALER 25-, Racheal QUIGLEY 44-, 60-
