The Jets have moved into the top four on the National Youth League ladder with a sparkling 4-1 win over Sydney FC.
The Newcastle Jets have moved into the top four on the National Youth League ladder with a sparkling 4-1 win over Sydney FC in sweltering conditions at Wanderers Oval on Sunday morning.
The Jets line-up featured A-League regulars Bernardo Ribeiro and Tiago Calvano as well as the return from injury of goalkeeper Ben Kennedy and they controlled the match from the outset.
A first-half brace from Socceroo Adam Taggart and a goal to Kyle Bradbery gave the home side a comfortable 3-0 lead at half-time.
Bradbery doubled his tally midway through the second half before Sydney striker Alec Urosevski slotted a late goal to give the scoreline some respectability.
The win moves the Jets into fourth place on 17 points while Sydney remain in eighth place on 10 points with the rest of the round to play.
The match got underway in stifling heat that forced a number of drinks breaks throughout the match and it was the home side who controlled play early without threatening the Sydney goal.
It was in fact the visitors who fashioned the first chance in the 15th minute when right fullback Trent McClenahan made a strong run down the right wing before getting in-between Jets defenders Mason Campbell and Taylor Regan.
The Sydney FC defender then took play inside the box before firing a curling left-foot shot that beat Newcastle goal-keeper Ben Kennedy only to rattle off the far post.
The home side wrestled back control in the best way possible with a goal from Bradbery. Andrew Hoole got into space down the right win before squaring to Taggart in front of goal. His scuffed shot was deflected into the path of Bradbery who buried it into the roof of the net to make it 1-0 after 18 minutes.
The Jets doubled their advantage when the industrious Bernardo played an incisive through ball for Taggart, who took one touch into the box before calmly slotting past Sydney goal-keeper Anthony Bouzanis.
Sydney had their chances in front of goal but couldn’t convert.
Christopher Naumoff showed good control to weave his way into the box but he fired his well-struck shot just wide of the far post before Alec Urosevski chased a through-ball to go one-on-one with Kennedy but the Jets custodian did well to smother the shot.
Moments later the Jets had their third when Hoole once again broke down the right wing before cutting the ball back to Taggart, who slammed a right-foot shot into the far corner for the Jets to hold a 3-0 lead at the break.
Newcastle maintained their dominance after the break, constructing a series of impressive raids engineered by Bernardo, Hoole and Bradbery causing the Sydney defence plenty of headaches with their pace and runs into the box.
Bouzanis denied another Jets goal when he made a fantastic diving save to push away a strike from Mitchell Oxborrow late in the match.
The Jets eventually profited from their pressure when Bradery took advantage of a well-engineered move through the midfield to slot home six minutes from full-time.
To their credit Sydney continued to attack and eventually got on the scoreboard when Urosevski beat the offside trap and slotted past substitute goal-keeper Jack Duncan to make the final score 4-1 to the Jets.
Newcastle Jets 4
Taggart 41, 45+2, Bradbery 16, 84.
Sydney FC 1
Urosevski 87
at Wanderers Oval, Newcastle
Newcastle Jets
Ben Kennedy (20. Jack Duncan 58′), 2. Jacob Pepper (14. Nicholas Cowburn 58′), 3. Tiago Calvano, 4. Taylor Regan (12. Luke Remington 38′), 5. Mason Campbell (capt), 6. Mitchell Oxborrow, 7. Andrew Hoole, 8. Mitch Cooper, 9. Adam Taggart (13. Bobby Russell 56′), 10. Bernardo Ribeiro, 11. Kyle Bradbery.
Sydney FC
Anthony Bouzanis, 2. Keifer Dotti, (4. Roberto Speranza 56”) 3. Aaron Calver, 6. Hagi Cligor (12. Lukas Stergiou 38′), 7. Joshua MacDonald, 9. Nikola Taneski, 10. Christopher Naumoff, (11. Tom Slater 56”) 14. Jared Lum, 15. Trent McClenahan, 16. Alec Urosevski, 17. Theo Kofinas.
Unused substitute 20. Marko Bozic.
