The Newcastle Jets were defeated 4-0 by Brisbane Roar in their opening match of the Townsville Football Cup on Sunday night.
The Jets had an opportunity to open the scoring inside the first minute, with Jeronimo breaking clear down the right flank, before cutting a ball back to the top of the box where Jonny Steele was waiting.
The Northern Ireland international’s first time effort looked to be goal bound, only for Roar defender James Donachie to throw himself in front of the ball and block the shot.
Brisbane took the lead in the 5th minute of the contest following a neat interchange of play down the right flank involving Jack Hingert, Brandon Borrrello and Dimitri Petratos.
After Hingert had released Borrello down the right flank, the Roar winger squared the ball to Petratos, who blasted his shot past Ben Kennedy from just inside the penalty area to make it 1-0.
The Roar nearly doubled their advantage five minutes later, with Jade North lifting a clever ball over the top for Borrello who found himself clear through on goal with only Kennedy to beat.
Thankfully for the Jets, Kennedy was up to the task, reacting quickly to smother Borrello’s shot from point blank range.
The Jets’ best chance of the first half came in the 21st minute through David Carney.
Carney picked up the ball on the left and showed plenty of skill to shake off a pair of Roar defenders and work his way into the penalty area, however he could only hit the side netting with his shot from an acute angle.
Brisbane had an opportunity to make it 2-0 just before the half time interval after Craig Goodwin was adjudged to have tripped up Henrique inside the penalty area.
The Brazilian stepped-up to take the spot kick and sent Ben Kennedy the wrong way to double the reigning Champions’ lead on the stroke of half-time.
Borrello was inches away from making it 3-0 shortly after the resumption of play, with his shot ricocheting off the post after he was given time and space to shoot on the edge of the penalty area.
The Jets responded positively to the close shave, with David Carney delivering a pinpoint free-kick from the left flank two minutes later that picked out the run of Kew Jaliens.
Unfortunately for the Jets, the former Dutch international could not hit the target with his free header and the chance went begging.
The Jets were made to pay for the miss in the 75th minute with Liam Miller receiving the ball in space inside the penalty area, before driving a powerful strike back across Kennedy and into the back of the net to make it 3-0.
Newcastle had an opportunity to get a goal back in the 82nd minute when Craig Goodwin expertly brought down a ball over the top on the left flank and carried it towards the penalty area.
The Jets winger cleverly held up the play before squaring the ball to Brandon Lundy who shot high and wide from the top of the box.
The Roar put the result beyond any doubt in the 86th minute with Shannon Brady beating the offside trap, before rounding Kennedy and finishing into an empty net to make it 4-0.
Brisbane Roar 4 (Petratos 5’, Henrique 40’, Miller 75’, Brady 86’)
Newcastle Jets 0
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