Jets hammer Mariners

The Newcastle Jets have caused a boilover in the National Youth League on Tuesday night by thumping competition leader Central Coast 4-1 at Pluim Park.

The Newcastle Jets have caused a boilover in the National Youth League on Tuesday night by thumping competition leader Central Coast 4-1 at Pluim Park.

The Mariners went into the postponed Round 23 showdown hoping to extend their lead at the top of the table to five points with only four games to play.

But the seventh-placed Jets never looked like losing.

Fabian Iacovelli and James Virgili scored first-half goals to put the visitors 2-0 up at the break.

The Mariners had plenty of possession in the first half but rarely threatened going forward.

The Jets looked dangerous every time they ventured into the Mariners half.

It was a similar story in the second half with the depleted Mariners trying hard but struggling to put pressure on the Jets resolute defence.

Any chance the home team had of working its way back into the match ended in the 59th minute when Matthew Sim scored from the penalty spot after a Jets player was ruled to have been held back in the box.

Some sloppy defence then allowed Mirjan Pavlovic to score the Jets fourth with a powerful header with 15 minutes to play.

To their credit the Mariners kept trying and were rewarded with a good solo goal to Gavin Forbes in the 83rd minute.

The victory was one of Newcastle’s best performances of the season and helped ease some of the pain of a 6-0 defeat when the teams met earlier in the season.

The Mariners are still on top but are now only two points clear with four games to play before the finals and will need a big improvement to win the title for the first time.