Gary van Egmond says he was pleased with his side’s effort in their 3-0 win over Lake Macquarie City FC on Wednesday night.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets head coach Gary van Egmond says he was pleased with his side-s effort in their 3-0 win over Lake Macquarie City FC at Macquarie Field on Wednesday night.
The Jets tested a new 3-4-3 formation against the NBN State League outfit, with Scott Neville, Taylor Regan and Sam Gallaway forming a back three in front of youth team goalkeeper John Solari.
Mitch Oxborrow and Jacob Pepper played at left and right wingback respectively.
Zenon Caravella and Ben Kantarovski played as holding midfielders behind a front three of James Virgili, Michael Bridges and Scottish trialist James Keatings.
Van Egmond said he was relatively pleased with the way the Jets had adapted to the new playing system, but said there is still plenty of work to be done.
“In regards to controlling the game and keeping possession, I think you could see that we were well and truly in control, but it-s about being clever enough in that front third to break teams down,” van Egmond said.
“That comes down to the positioning and decision-making for the final pass and the action for us to score.”
Each member of the Jets first team squad who featured in the match played between 45-60 minutes, with the only exceptions being experienced duo Michael Bridges and Zenon Caravella.
Van Egmond said each player-s workload would be carefully monitored and managed throughout the pre-season.
“It was all judged on where they are physically,” he said.
“From the perspective of the squad, it-s very important for us to stay whole and make sure we don-t get any injuries.
“It-s a long pre-season and it-s good that we-ve come through the match unscathed.”
After the Jets- first two trial matches were called off due to wet weather, van Egmond said he was grateful for the cooperation of Lake Macquarie City FC in hosting Wednesday night-s game.
“A big thank you needs to go to Lake Macquarie for playing us,” van Egmond said.
“We-re on their pitch and they have an important game this weekend, so it was great that they were able to accommodate us.”
