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Y-League: Welcoming the nation’s capital to Adamstown

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The Jets Youth boys have had the chance to rest up, after a bye in Round 3 halted the momentum they picked up after a win on the Central Coast.

The 3-1 result back in Round 2 was the young Jets first of the season, with three goals in the final 20 minutes enough to get over the line.

REVIEW: The win over Central Coast

It follows defeat in the opening round to Sydney FC, in a match which Newcastle dominated but struggled to find the back of the net.

This weekend’s home fixture, against Canberra United, will again be at Adamstown Oval after it was confirmed No.2 Sportsground will be out of action until the New Year.

After missing out on the Mariners match to complete his coaching A-Licence, Labi Haliti will take full charge from the sidelines for the first time come Saturday morning.

Ivan Vujica youth

Canberra are currently winless in the Foxtel Y-League, with no points from their opening three fixtures.

Those include a last-gasp loss to the Mariners, and a drubbing at the hands of Sydney FC last weekend.

Team news

As always, there’s likely to be a couple of Hyundai A-League boys who will play a part in the weekend’s Y-League fixture.

With the senior squad set to travel to Melbourne on Saturday afternoon, there’s no counting any players out given the Y-League’s 10:30am kickoff.

One player who might rate his chances of a start is Cai Tipaldo, who was electric off the bench last weekend.

Cai Tipaldo youth

His 64th minute substitution was absolutely crucial in last weekend’s 3-1 win, as he went on to score an equaliser and a sealer in the final 20 minutes.

Tom Curran made his NYL debut off the bench last weekend, and is one player who will be giving Labi Haliti plenty to think about ahead of Saturday.

From the coach

“The boys have been training well the last two weeks, last week we had an intra-club match where a few of the first-team boys were involved,” Y-League boss, Labi Haliti said.

“We gave them the weekend off [with the bye in Round 3] and have been back into it this week, and it’s been a good week.

“I think Canberra are a very good team, compared to last year. I was down in Canberra, watched them play against the Wanderers, and they were very impressive. It’ll be an interesting game, and a very very important one.

“As a team, we’ve been training well. Because of the 10:30am kick-off, we’ll find out closer to the game which first-team boys we might have coming in for us.”

The Newcastle Jets Y-League team will play their second home match of the Foxtel Y-League campaign, at home to Canberra United on Saturday 1 December. Kick-off is at 10:30am, and entry is free.