Brisbane Roar claimed their first victory over the Jets in season 12 of the Hyundai A-League after a drama-filled clash in the Hunter.
In front of 7,122 fans the Jets took the lead early, before a controversial red card was shown to Jets skipper Jason Hoffman. From that moment the home side never recovered.
After a cagey start to the match, where the Jets side invited some pressure from Brisbane, Newcastle responded superbly in their first attacking raid.
Andrew Hoole threaded a pass into the box for Aleksandr Kokko who looked set to score, but was brought down by Brisbane defender Corey Brown. Andrew Nabbout stepped up to the spot and calmly slotted his eight goal of the season into the bottom right corner for a 1-0 lead after just ten minutes.
The goal sparked the Jets into life and five minutes later Wayne Brown almost doubled the lead after running onto a through ball from Daniel Mullen. Brown’s first time shot curled just wide of the right post.
Next, Hoole weaved his way through the Roar backline in the 23rd minute and just slid his shot wide from the left side.
Jamie Maclaren almost fired the visitors back into the match when he was played through in the 24th minute. The Roar’s leading scorer pulled his shot just to the left of goal.
Maclaren had another chance minutes later, but on this occasion it was Jets keeper Tomislav Arčaba who made a good save.
It was on the half hour when the match took its dramatic shift as Hoffman – after going into the referee’s book a minute earlier – was sent from the field after a contentious second yellow card was handed out by referee Jarred Gillett. Hoffman appeared to collect Roar forward Manuel Arana across the face with the back of his arm.
To add to the drama, Jets coach Mark Jones was then sent from the ground for comments made to the fourth official.
Chances were limited before the break and the home side held on until half time to lead by 1-0.
After the break the Roar almost found an equaliser and would of if not for the quick thinking of Arčaba. Brown’s volley from the left edge of the box was deflected by Arana towards goal and was heading in, only for Arčaba to dive on the ball centimetres before it crossed the line.
In the 62nd minute the Roar found the equaliser they craved, after Hoole was ruled to have pulled down Thomas Broich in the box as a corner was whipped in. Gillett pointed to the spot and Maclaren calmly stepped up and slotted the spot kick.
After applying the blowtorch to the Jets for much of the half, the Roar struck again in the 74th minute through Maclaren. Arana fired in a powerful shot from the edge of the box, which was saved by a diving Arčaba, but the Jets keeper could only parry the shot into the path of Maclaren who tapped home his second of the evening.
Brisbane continued to probe, and put the final nail in the coffin in the final minute of regulation time. After a couple of blocked Roar shots the ball fell to youngster Nick D’Agostino who curled home his first Hyundai A-League goal from close range.
The Roar, too strong in the second half against a ten-man Jets side, took the three points back north with a 3-1 win.
Newcastle have the week off next weekend before a trip to Melbourne to take on City on Saturday week.
Newcastle Jets 1 (Nabbout (pen) 10’)
Brisbane Roar 3 (Maclaren 62’ (pen), 74’, D’Agostino 90’)
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
Attendance: 7,122
Referee: Jarred Gillett
Newcastle Jets: 2. Daniel MULLEN, 3. Jason HOFFMAN (C), 5. Ben KANTAROVSKI (4. Nigel BOOGAARD 50’), 6. Steven UGARKOVIC, 7. Andrew HOOLE (8. Mateo POLJAK 73’), 9. Aleksandr KOKKO (19. Morten NORDSTRAND 77’), 10. Wayne BROWN, 15. Andrew NABBOUT, 22. Lachlan JACKSON, 28. John KOUTROUMBIS, 50. Tomislav ARCABA (Gk)
Substitutes not used: 18. MA Leilei, 30. Pierce CLARK (Gk)
Yellow cards: Hoffman x2
Red cards: Hoffman
Brisbane Roar: 1. Michael THEO (Gk), 5. Corey BROWN, 6. Avram PAPADOPOULOS, 9. Jamie MACLAREN (26. Nicholas D’AGOSTINO 89’), 10. Brett HOLMAN, 11. Thomas OAR (22. Thomas BROICH 57’), 13. Jade NORTH, 15. Manuel ARANA, 17. Matthew MCKAY (C), 19. Jack HINGERT, 29. Joe CALETTI (8. Jacob PEPPER 79’)
Substitutes not used: 21. Jamie YOUNG (Gk), 46. Cameron CRESTANI
Yellow cards: Holman, Papadopoulos
Red cards: Nil
