A stunning 76th minute strike from outside the box by former Socceroo David Carney helped guide Newcastle Jets to an impressive 1-0 win over Melbourne Victory at Hunter Stadium on Friday.
Carney rifled a left foot rocket past Danny Vukovic following a layoff at a set piece opportunity by Brazilian attacking midfielder Leonardo.
Carney’s shot thundered into the net sending the 10,087 Jets members and fans in attendance into raptures.
Like in their opening two rounds of the Hyundai A-League 2015/16 season Scott Miller’s men put on a spirited display against Victory.
Indeed, the Jets took the game to the defending competition Champions early on and had the better of the opening exchanges.
Milos Trifunovic had two good opportunities to open the scoring for Newcastle, but couldn’t quite convert his chances.
Melbourne Victory worked their way into the contest and fashioned strong chances of their own to open the scoring before half time.
But the Victory perhaps didn’t count on Jets custodian Ben Kennedy performing at his peak – the goalkeeper producing two smart reflex saves to deny top Melbourne attempts.
Lady luck shone on the Jets 30 minutes in as Besart Berisha’s effort struck the woodwork.
The Jets found themselves under some pressure to start the second half but perhaps should have taken the lead against the run of play.
Trifunovic again found himself one on one after working hard and pressuring Leigh Broxham into a weak back pass, but his strike whizzed past Vukovic’s right post.
From then on the second half was a very open and engaging affair as both sides looked to push forward for all three points.
And while Kennedy certainly had his moments between the sticks for the Jets as Victory prodded and probed, it was Carney’s bomb 14 minutes from full time that would ultimately put the icing on a passionate team display by Newcastle.
Newcastle Jets 1 (Carney 76’)
Melbourne Victory 0
Venue: Hunter Stadium, Newcastle
Attendance: 10,087
Referee: Strebre Delovski
Newcastle Jets: 2. Daniel Mullen, 3. Jason Hoffman, 4. Nigel Boogaard (C), 5. Ben Kantarovski, 7. Enver Alivodic, 8. Mateo Poljak, 9. Milos Trifunovic, 10. Leonardo (14. Mitch Cooper 84’), 20. Ben Kennedy (Gk), 22. Lachlan Jackson (24. Nicholas Cowburn 68’), 23. David Carney (17. Radovan Pavicevic 88’)
Substitutes not used: 6. Cameron Watson, 40. Blake Tuxford (Gk)
Yellow cards: Mullen, Pavicevic
Red cards: Nil
Melbourne Victory: 1. Danny Vukovic (Gk), 5. Daniel Georgievski, 6. Leigh Broxham, 7. Gui Finkler, 8. Besart Berisha, 9. Kosta Barbarouses, 13. Oliver Bozanic, 14. Fahid Ben Khalfallah (11. Connor Pain 78’), 17. Matthieu Delpierre, 18. Dylan Murnane, 21. Carl Valeri (C) (16. Rashid Mahazi 68’)
Substitutes not used: 20. Lawrence Thomas (Gk), 22. Jesse Makarounas, 24. Thomas Deng
Yellow cards: Georgievski, Broxham, Delpierre, Valeri, Mahazi
Red cards: Nil
