After a five hour round trip to the place where it’s always sunny – Newcastle, we were ready for a match that has delivered some classics over the past couple of seasons, it was Newcastle vs Sydney up in the Hunter and the away side were out for nothing less than a win to try and further their unbeaten run.
It was the top of the table against the bottom of the table and after the sacking of veteran coach Ernie Merrick, the Newy faithful were hopeful for a surprise result. Despite the injuries that have plagued the Jets, the home team put in an impressive performance against one of the strongest teams in the league but eventually fell to Sydney 2-1.
The travelling side started off strong as we saw the league leaders get on the scoresheet in the first fifteen minutes. We witnessed a trademark Adam Le Fondre tap in thanks to some nice buildup from Joel King, Milos Ninkovic and Kosta Barbarouses.
Limbs in the away bay ensued as the players celebrated together.
Was this going to be business as usual for the Sky Blues or were we going to see the Jets put up a fight and show this league that they are no pushovers?
Bloody oath we were.
The Jets wasted no time in replying to Sydney’s opener and found themselves an equaliser through Steven Ugarkovic. The Jets midfielder found himself with the ball on the edge of the box with plenty of composure and balance before swinging his right foot through it to see the ball fly in the top corner.
The Novocastrians went wild.
This was it. This was the turning point for the struggling Jets. A stunning equaliser right in front of the home fans to knock the champions down a notch.
Unfortunately for Newcastle this glimmer of hope didn’t last very long as Sydney scored another goal, this time through Kosta Barbarouses, someone that Jets fans know all too well.
It was a typical Sydney goal with Milos Ninkovic doing all the work and playing a lovely short pass right into the feet of Kosta Barbarouses who then tapped it past Glen Moss.
2-1. Sydney take the lead. It looked all but over for the Jets.
Although we saw some fight from Newy in the second half, they failed to get themselves another equaliser but they certainly made Sydney work for the win. The Jets found themselves in Sydney’s box many times but failed to crack their defence.
After conceding 15 goals in their previous 4 matches, this was definitely a result that Jets fans could be proud of as they head into a new era of their history.
Sydney on the other hand will be glad to be leaving Newcastle with all 3 points ahead of their bye round and continuing their unbeaten run, despite the performance not being up to their usual standard.
