The Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners have played out a 1-1 draw at Bluetongue Stadium
The Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners have played out a 1-1 draw at Bluetongue Stadium, in their Round 15 encounter tonight.
A goal on either side of the half for both sides resulted in them sharing the spoils in yet another entertaining derby between two fiercely competitive neighbours.
The Newcastle Jets opened the scoring in spectacular fashion with a breakaway goal on 17 minutes.
Labinot Haliti was on hand for his third goal of the season with a good first time finish., Ruben Zadkovich picked up possession deep within his own half, before Jeremy Brockie providing a pin point cross for the striker.
The action continued in the fierce battle that followed, and the Central Coast Mariners had a chance to get themselves back in to the contest, being awarded a penalty on 23 minutes.
Former Newcastle Jets player Troy Hearfield stepped up to try and convert the attempt, but Ben Kennedy picked the right way to make the save and maintain their early lead.
Michael McGlinchey gave the Newcastle defence a tense moment during time added on, but Nikolai Topor-Stanley did well to block his shot on goal; Newcastle providing a very impressive defensive display in the first half.
The Jets controlled most of the proceedings in the opening forty five minutes; they deserved their one goal lead going into the half time break.
The Mariners came out strong after the restart to dominate possession, and they found an equaliser on 60 minutes as Patrick Zwaanswijk hit the back of the net with a header from the corner.
It was end to end play that followed for the remainder of the match with neither side looking like they could walk away with the three points.
In a thrilling finish, it ended 1-1 at Bluetongue Stadium.
Newcastle goal scorer Labinot Haliti said “it was a good match, last week we played well and we wanted to prove today that wasn-t a fluke”, adding “the league is so close, anything can happen, we will just stay positive.”
The Newcastle Jets return home to face Wellington Phoenix on Friday January 20 at 8pm.
Match Details
Central Coast Mariners 1 (P .Zwaanswijk 60-)
Newcastle Jets 1 (L. Haliti 17-)
Bluetongue Stadium
Attendance 10,904
