The Newcastle Jets have caused an upset by inflicting the first defeat on Sydney FC in the 2008/09 National Youth League with an impressive 3-2 victory in their Round 11 fixture at Adamstown Oval on Saturday afternoon.
The sides were locked at 1-1 at half-time after an early strike from Taylor Regan put the Jets ahead before Sean Rooney equalised for the visitors.
Jets midfielder Brodie Mooy slammed home a goal just after the half-time break to put the home side back in front before Newcastle forward Adrian Karakolevski made it 3-1 with a clinical strike in the 82nd minute.
Star Sydney striker Rooney took advantage of a loose ball in defence to stand up the Newcastle defence and calmly slot home his second of the match in the 88th minute. But the Jets were able to hold on to score a valuable victory.
The win lifts Newcastle into equal fourth spot on the National Youth League ladder on 10 points alongside Perth and the Central Coast Mariners, who scored a 1-0 win over the Queensland Roar earlier in the day, while Sydney remains on top of the table seven points clear of Adelaide United.
The match was played in stifling heatwave-like conditions and it was the home side who adapted better getting off to a great start when skipper Regan scored in just the fifth minute of play. Jesse Pinto swung in a pin-point free-kick from the right flank which was touched on for Regan to volley home at the near post.
The Jets dominated for the next quarter of an hour and could have doubled their advantage in the 17th minute when Mooy slammed a stinging volley from 20 yards out only to be denied by a fingertip save from Sydney goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic.
Sydney’s reply came against the run of play in the 39th minute of the match. A tired looking Newcastle defence failed to clear the ball from their penalty area and Rooney showed great perseverance to fight his way through a sea of bodies and squeeze the ball past Jets keeper Justin Pasfield at the near post.
The Jets exposed Sydney at the opening of the second half when winger James Virgili beat three defenders to sneak along the byline before crossing to the six-yard box where the ball was deflected away by the Sydney defence. Newcastle midfielder Matthew Harper was first to the loose ball and passed to an unmarked Mooy who drilled his shot home from 10-yards out to give Newcastle a 2-1 lead.
Sydney attacked with determination in the next period of play with Rooney setting up substitute Anthony Musumeci who sent a vicious 20-yard shot narrowly over the bar, while Chris Triantis forced a good low save from substitute Newcastle keeper Jordan Griffiths.
The Jets managed to wrestle back control of the match and duly went 3-1 ahead when Karakolevski finished off an enterprising attacking movement to slot home from 15-yards out eight minutes from full-time.
Sydney was given a glimmer of a late comeback when Rooney pounced on a loose ball inside the Newcastle half and showed skill and maturity to slot the ball into the far post to make it 3-2 in the 88th minute.
But the Jets kept calm and managed to nullify any further attacking raids to register a crucial win.
Match Details
Newcastle Jets 3 (Taylor Regan 5-, Brodie Mooy 47-, Adrian Karakolevski 88-)
Sydney FC 2 (Sean Rooney 39-/87-)
Adamstown Oval, Newcastle
Saturday 6 December 2008
Referee: James Lewis
Assistant Referees: Nathan Magill, Michael Amloh
Fourth Official: Brett Hookham
Newcastle Jets line-up: 1.Justin Pasfield (OA) (20.Jordan GRIFFITHS (gk) 60-). 2.Simon MOONEY, 3.Jarrad ROSS, 4.Jon GRIFFITHS, 5.George STROGYLOS (15.Jacob PEPPER 51-), 6.Taylor REGAN (c), 7.Brodie MOOY (12.Adrian KARAKOLEVSKI 51-), 8.Matt HARPER, 9.Ben MARTIN (14.Joel WITHERDIN 60- (7.Brodie MOOY 89-)) 10.Jesse PINTO, 11.James VIRGILLI
Yellow cards: Joel WITHERDIN 72-, Brodie MOOY 94-
Sydney FC line-up: 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (gk), 2.Rhyan GRANT, 4.Chris TRIANTIS, 6.Kearyn BACCUS (15.Anthony MUSUMECI 57-), 7.Robbie MILESKI (14.Ivan PAVLSK 51-), 8.Nikolas TSATTALIOS (6.Kearyn BACCUS 87-), 9.Sean ROONEY, 10.Zach CAIRNCROSS, 11.Kofi DANNING (5.Luke AUSTIN 51-) 12.Ibrahim HAYDAR, 13.Sam MUNRO
Yellow cards: Zach CAIRNCROSS 84-, Chris TRIANTIS 85-
