The Newcastle Jets have defeated Sydney FC 2-1 in front the Club’s largest home crowd of the season at Hunter Stadium.
The Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets have defeated Sydney FC 2-1 in front the Club-s largest home crowd of the season at Hunter Stadium.
A total of 17,402 turned up to see marquee players Alessandro Del Piero and Emile Heskey go head-to-head for the second time this season.
The went home happy, with Heskey-s goal in the 25th minute proving to be the difference between the two sides.
Craig Goodwin put the Jets ahead in the 12th minute with a superb free-kick that caught Sydney goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic off guard.
From an acute angle on the right flank, Goodwin went directly for goal and found the back of the net with a vicious in-swinger that beat Janjetovic all ends up.
The Jets had a couple of half-chances to double their lead shortly after, with Griffiths heading over the bar and Virgili hitting a powerful low drive that Janjetovic snapped up.
However, there was nothing the Sky Blues shot-stopper could do when Vrigili put the Jets- second goal on a platter for former England international Emile Heskey in the 25th minute.
After getting by his man on the right wing, the pacy Virgili hit a low cross that went across the face of goal, right into the path of Heskey who tapped in from point blank range.
Sydney hit back in the 32nd minute through Panamanian international Yairo Yau. The striker showed blistering speed to chase down a through-ball from Alessandro Del Piero.
His initial shot was well saved by the feet of Mark Birighitti in a one-one situation, but unfortunately for the Jets goalkeeper, the rebound feel back at the feet of Yau, who made no mistake the second time around.
The Jets nearly restored their two-goal advantage on the stroke of half-time when Goodwin-s corner spilled out to Brillante at the top of the box. However, his first-time volley drifted agonisingly wide of the goal.
Sydney started the second half the stronger of the two teams and earned consecutive corners that were well defended by the Jets.
After withstanding the pressure, the Jets went close to scoring their third when Griffiths forced a good save out of Janjetovic with a header from a Goodwin cross.
A short time later, Goodwin stung the palms of the Sky Blues goalkeeper with a scorching left-footed drive from 35 metres out.
The Jets held their nerve through the dying minutes to secure their first win in six outings.
Newcastle Jets 2 (Goodwin 12-, Heskey 25-)
Sydney FC 1 (Yau 32-)
Crowd 17,402 at Hunter Stadium
Newcastle Jets starting XI: 2. Scott Neville, 5. Dominik Ritter, 8. Ruben Zadkovich (c), 9. Emile Heskey, 11. Connor Chapman, 12. Josh Brillante (18. Jacob Pepper 73-), 13. Sam Gallaway, 15. Craig Goodwin (22. Adam Taggart 75-), 17. James Virgili, 20. Mark Birighitti, 23. Ryan Griffiths.
Yellow cards:
Substitutes: 4. Josh Mitchell, 30. Jack Duncan (gk).
Sydney FC starting XI: 2. Sebastian Ryall, 3. Fabio (5. Nathan Sherlock 45-), 7. Brett Emerton (26. Peter Triantis 30-), 8. Adam Griffiths, 10. Alessandro Del Piero, 15. Terry McFlynn (c), 17. Terry Antonis (12. Blake Powell 69), 20. Vedran Janjetovic (gk), 21. Yairo Yau, 22. Ali Abbas, 23. Rhyan Grant.
Yellow cards: Fabio 11-, Griffiths 22-
Substitutes: 30. Anthony Bouzanis.
