Sydney FC’s National Youth League team has broken back in to the winner’s circle with a 2-0 success over the young Jets on a hot night at Cromer Park.
The ladder-leading young Sky Blues had gone three matches without a win, but burst clear again on top of the table thanks to second-half goals from Chris Triantis and Steve Lustica.
Triantis’ 55th-minute goal proved the turning point of the match. The Sydney skipper unleashed a 35-metre rocket which caught Jets keeper Justin Pasfield totally unaware.
Substitute Lustica then sealed the deal nine minute from time thanks to a clever pass from Matthew Hall which was finished with the side of the foot.
Sydney is now on 35 points with three matches remaining, six clear of Queensland on top of the table, while the Jets remain bottom after their 11th loss of the season.
The heat took a toll on the match, which was delayed by 45 minutes because of the tough conditions. After Adam Casey had prompted Pasfield in to an early save, the goalmouth action was few and far between for the remainder of the half.
Newcastle’s best chance of the game came soon after the break when Ben Martin was put through, but he couldn’t trouble Vedran Janjetovic in the Sydney goal.
Triantis’ goal came out of nowhere, with the ball seemingly in a safe position, the Jets defenders allowed the skipper the space to catch the keeper out and it was suddenly 1-0.
Sydney defensive errors looked to be Newcastle’s best chance of getting into the match, but the Jets were not in the form for capitalising.
The injection of subs Lustica and Hall just after the goal was to prove decisive as their fresh legs proved too much for Newcastle’s defence to hold out. Hall was able to find Lustica and before Pasfield could react the ball was in the back of the net.
Match Details
Sydney FC 2 (Chris Triantis 55-, Steve Lustica 80-)
Newcastle Jets 0
Cromer Park, Sydney
Saturday 24 January 2009
Referee: James Lewis
Assistant Referees: Nick Backo, Stephen Lucas
Fourth Official: Brett Hookham
Sydney FC line-up: 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (gk), 3.Adam BIDDLE, 4.Chris TRIANTIS (c), 5.Mitchell PRENTICE (OA), 6.Chris PAYNE, 7.Robbie MILESKI, 8.Antony GOLEC, 11.Adam CASEY (OA), 12.Ibrahim HAYDAR, 13.Sam MUNRO (14.Steve LUSTICA 59-), 16.Nik TSATTALIOS (15.Matthew HALL 56-)
Substitutes not used: Nil
Yellow cards: Sam Munro 34-, Adam Casey 82-
Red Cards: Nil
Newcastle Jets line-up: 1.Justin PASFIELD (gk) (OA) (20.Ben MCNAMARA (gk) 59-), 2.Simon MOONEY, 4.Patrick WHEELER, 5.George STROGYLOS, 6.Taylor REGAN, 7.Fabian IACOVELLI, 8.Matt HARPER, 9.Ben MARTIN, 10.Jacob PEPPER, 11.Harry MAGUIRE (14.Dylan MURPHY 55-), 12.Matthew COMERFORD
Substitutes not used: Nil
Yellow cards: Dylan Murphy 66-
Red Cards: Nil
