The Newcastle Jets were defeated 1-0 by Brisbane Roar in their Round 9 clash at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday evening.
The Newcastle Jets were defeated 1-0 by Brisbane Roar in their Round 9 clash at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday evening.
The match sparked into life just before half-time, with Besart Berisha converting a penalty shortly before Josh Mitchell and Thomas Broich were sent off in a controversial incident.
Mitchell gave away the penalty and conceded a yellow card after 40 minutes, before getting involved in a flare up with the Roar’s Broich just before the break, which resulted in both players being dismissed.
Brisbane had been forced to shuffle their defence coming into the match, with Ivan Franjic and captain Matt Smith both on Socceroos duty, while the Jets were missing back-up forward Adam Taggart, also called up for the East Asian Cup qualifying tournament.
The Jets went on the attack early, and after just two minutes a delightfully lofted Ryan Griffiths free-kick from wide on the right found Emile Heskey free at the back post, but the former England international missed the target.
Two minutes later, Heskey was again set up by Griffiths, who had slipped into space down the right, but again he failed to convert the chance.
It took several minutes for Brisbane to begin to enjoy more possession, but as Broich warmed to the role of attacking focal point, the whole forward unit started to look more impressive.
On 13 minutes, Jets playmaker Bernardo Ribeiro split the Roar defence with a well-weighted pass to give James Brown the time he needed to shoot, and he cracked a hard, low shot from the edge of the area. Roar keeper Michael Theo was up to the task, however, and parried the dangerous attempt wide.
After 26 minutes the first serious cracks appeared in the Newcastle defence, as Henrique danced down the left before cutting back for Erik Paartalu, whose shot flashed wide.
As the Roar’s confidence grew, so did the pressure on Newcastle, who spent long periods pinned back and chasing shadows.
Five minutes before half-time, Brisbane’s sustained possession finally paid dividends, as Broich fed Jack Hingert in the box. Hingert cut inside and Mitchell brought him down with a stray right leg for a penalty.
Roar marksman Berisha made no mistake from the spot, finishing calmly low and left past goalkeeper Matthew Nash.
What had been a match played in the right spirit flared up just before the break, as Broich body checked Mitchell after a pass out of defence and within seconds both sides converged in an angry huddle.
Mitchell received his second yellow and was dismissed, as was Broich, who was given a straight red card for violent conduct from referee Brenton Hayward and the Roar took a 1-0 lead into half time.
Ryan Griffiths produced a moment of brilliance three minutes after the break, belting a high, bouncing ball at the Roar goal. Theo was up to the task, however, athletically parrying the dipping shot.
A minute later, Henrique lofted in a free-kick down the other end and, regathering the half-cleared ball, sent his long-distance effort past Nash’s post.
On 65 minutes, coach Gary van Egmond brought on Craig Goodwin for James Brown.
Excellent play from Halloran down the right, and then Hingert through the middle, saw the ball roll to Henrique in a superb position. The Brazilian only had to put some venom into his shot to beat a scrambling Nash, but the effort was anything but powerful, allowing Nash to block what seemed a certain goal.
Berisha then blasted over for the Roar from the centre of the box, after making space for himself with some good close control.
On 76 minutes substitute James Meyer fired at goal, though Nash held the attempt easily.
The match was becoming more stretched as it entered its final 15 minutes, and Newcastle began to use their target man Heskey more effectively, sending long balls forward for him to knock down to his support players.
The Jets had their chances towards the end of the game however the Roar kept their one goal lead to claim all three points. The Jets are back home next week and host the Central Coast Mariners on Saturday evening at Hunter Stadium.
Newcastle Jets 0
Brisbane Roar 1 (Berisha 41′)
Crowd: 12,546 at Suncorp Stadium
