A vocal crowd welcomed the Newcastle Jets to Energy Australia Stadium for their first home match of the season against the Melbourne Heart on Friday night. Playing in their traditional gold jersey and navy blue shorts, the Newcastle Jets put on a dominant first half display and were unfortunate not to go into the break with a two or three goal lead.

The Newcastle Jets sized up their opposition early playing a patient possession game. In the seventh minute, the Newcastle Jets first opportunity fell to Marko Jesic whose shot was saved a by a sprawled Clint Bolton. Ali Abbas followed through and almost scored off the rebound but a brave Bolton kept the scores level.

The eleventh minute saw the Melbourne Heart produce their first shot of the match when a Gerald Sibon free kick was well caught by a confident Ben Kennedy. The Jets had another scare two minutes later when Alex Terra ran at a stumbling Ruben Zadkovich who recovered well enough to concede a corner. It was a positive period for the Heart who had another opportunity in the 15th minute when Nicholas Kalmar crossed a ball which was headed over the bar by Gerald Sibon.

In the 16th minute, the Jets began a period of domination when new recruit, Jeremy Brockie, held the ball up on the Heart byline and playedthe ball back to an arriving Michael Bridges whose shot was pushed around the bar by a diving Clint Bolton. In the 17th minute, the Melbourne Heart’s Marquee player succumb to a hamstring injury and was replaced by Wayne Shroj. Before the Heart could make the change a great through ball by Jeremy Brockie saw a
flying Marko Jesic break through for a one on one opportunity which Bolton narrowly saved with his foot.

In the 22nd minute, another quality ball, this time by Ali Abbas, gave Jeremy Brockie face to face with Clint Bolton. Again, the Newcastle Jets failed to capitalize and the score remained nil all. In the 26th minute, a Kantarovski free kick was well directed into the Heart six yard box with Michael Bridges out jumping the Heart defence only to head
over the bar.

Despite the Jets dominance, a great turn by Alex Terra had the Jets scrambling with a loose ball falling to Gerald Sibon whose shot went well wide. The 39th minute saw another dangerous run by Alex Terra, who was obstructed by Ljubo Milicevic. The resulting free kick was taken by Dean Heffernan and was met by a rising Nicholas Kalmar who forced a
great reflex save by Ben Kennedy who pushed the ball over his cross bar.

In the 45th minute, another positive run by Ali Abbas was deemed to be offside by the linesman. The referee then booked Abbas after he kicked the ball after the whistle and the Jets had their first yellow card of the match. The booking was the only real negative to come out of a dominant first half display and the referee then blew for half time with
the scores locked at nil all.

The most controversial moment of the match came in the 50th minute when Michael Bridges ran on to a ball in the box and looked to be fouled by the Heart defence. Despite the calls for a penalty, the referee awarded a free kick against Michael Bridges and then showed him a yellow card for simulation.

Despite the controversy, Newcastle continued its gallant attack and was finally rewarded in the 60th minute when Ben Kantarovski played a ball to Jeremy Brockie on the right hand side. Brockie took on his defender with an inside cut which was followed by a low left foot shot. Clint Bolton dove to his right and managed to get a hand on the ball but it
had enough power to beat the keeper. Brockie immediately ran towards the Newcastle Jets squadron supporters who immediately took him into their hearts.

The 71st minute saw another strong run through the centre of midfield by Ben Kantarovski, who once again linked up with Jeremy Brockie. He then attempted to play the ball back to Kantarovski, but the young midfielder checked his run and the attack broke down.  In the 81st minute, a cruel twist of fate saw the Melbourne Heart
receive an undeserved equalizer. A ball by Worm released Marrone who was tackled by Zadkovich. The ball fell to Ben Kantarovski, who attempted to hastily clear the ball but his misguided clearance saw the ball float over keeper, Ben Kennedy, and into the back of the Newcastle net.

The Newcastle Jets did not relent and Kantarovski almost made up for his home goal in the 89th minute but his resulting shot was off target and went out for a goal kick. The Jets almost stole it back in injury time when a speculative ball by Ruben Zadkovich was well headed into Marko Jesic’s path but a poor first touch denied the Jets a final opportunity.

In the post match press conference, Newcastle Jets head coach, Branko Culina was disappointed with the controversial penalty decision and when asked if that was two points lost he state “yes, but that’s football for you, down the track we will pick up two points we may not deserve but I was delighted with the players performance, I thought some of the football we played in that first half was outstanding. We created opportunities, but we are still a work in progress but we are getting there but unfortunately the 3 points went missing but we are pleased with the way we are travelling.”

Captain Michael Bridges stated “the front four created enough chances in the first half to blow them out of the park. From a personal point of view, we only have ourselves to blame. We had the game tied up and you have to take the positives out of the first half.”

The Newcastle Jets will be disappointed with the result but the team showed enough to indicate that Energy Australia Stadium is going to be a difficult place for away teams to travel to and the healthy crowd of 8735 should be confident that this team will be a force in this seasons A-league.

Match Details:

Newcastle Jets: 1. Ben KENNEDY (gk), 3. Adam D’APUZZO, 4. Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY 5. Ljubo MILICEVIC, 6. Ben KANTAROVSKI 7. Kasey WEHRMAN (11. Tarek ELRICH 85′) 8. Michael BRIDGES (c), 10. Ruben ZADKOVICH,
16. Jeremy BROCKIE (14. Labinot HALITI 75′), 18. Marko JESIC, 19. Ali ABBAS (12. Jobe WHEELHOUSE 69′)
Unused substitutes: 30. Paul HENDERSON (gk)
Yellow cards: Ali Abbas 45th, Michael Bridges 50th, Ben Kantarovski 66th
Red cards: Nil

Melbourne Heart: 1. Clint BOLTON, 2.Michael MARRONE, 4.Simon COLOSIMO,5.Michael BEAUCHAMP, 6.Matt THOMPSON, 7. Rutger WORM, 9.Gerald SIBON, 11. Alex TERRA, 20. Josip SKOKO (10. Wayne SHROJ 17′), 22.
Nicholas KALMAR (3. Brendan HAMIL), 23. Dean HEFFERNAN (19. Eli BABAU)
Unused substitutes: 12. Peter ZOIS
Yellow cards: NIL
Red cards: NIL

Crowd : 8735
Referee: Ryan SHEPHERD

There was no shortage of passion or attacking intent from the Newcastle United Jets in our season opener against Adelaide United on a chilly evening in Hindmarsh Stadium.

However, Branko’s lads were unable to find the breakthrough in a game where we controlled much of the game but the final pass was lacking in precision.

Marcos Flores was a late withdrawal for the Reds after sustaining a thigh injury at training on Thursday. The Argentine was given until the last minute to prove his fitness but Coolen decided against risking the creative playmaker. His absence was obvious as United lacked a player in the middle of the park to direct traffic and control the tempo of the game. Paul Reid was tireless for the Reds in midfield and enjoyed a solid battle with Jets’ star recruit Kasey Wehrman.

Newcastle also were missing Brodie Mooy who was left behind after a training ground incident left him requiring 18 stitches to a gash in his forehead. This left Ruben Zadkovich to cover the right side of defence with Tarek Elrich still building towards a return after groin surgery in the offseason.

The visitors threatened early, dominating possession in the opening five minutes and keeping United camped in their own half. When the Reds finally went forward they nearly took the lead when a Daniel Mullen header flashed past the post in the ninth minute from a Cassio corner.

Captain Michael Bridges was stamping his authority in the middle of the park while Adam D’Apuzzo was getting plenty of joy down the left for Newcastle. The pair combined on 20 minutes when the Englishman laid it off just on the edge of the area for D’Appuzzo, who was screaming forward, but his low drive was well saved by Reds keeper Eugene Galekovic.

Sergio van Dijk was having a torrid time shaking the tight marking of Ljubo Milicevic while Matthew Leckie had little opportunity to use his pace and run at the jets defence. Frustration appeared to set in for United late in the half and Leckie was booked for a late challenge and a minute later Reid also went into the book.

Reid brought down Wehrman in the centre of the park with a tough tackle that saw players from both camps remonstrate with the referee. Bridges continued to test Galekovic and his volley five minutes after the break had the Socceroos keeper diving to his right.

Leckie had a great chance minutes later when Iain Ramsay pounced on a poor back pass from the Jets’ defence. The ex-Sydney FC player squared it for the Young Socceroo who took on a defender before blasting over the bar from just inside box. Lucas Pantelis was next to go close for United but also saw his shot whizz over the bar after he had cut inside his defender. Mullen found the back of the net just after the hour mark, tapping in a free kick after van Djik had flicked it on but the goal was disallowed for offside.

The Jets continued to attack and as the match wore on looked the more likely to steal a late match winner. With the 90 minutes winding down, both sides appeared content to settle for the draw in chilling conditions. The Jets, while frustrated by not being able to covert possession into goals, showed enough in attack and fluency to give supporters hope ahead of their first home game against Melbourne Heart on Friday 13th August.

Passages of this match review taken from http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/175520,honours-even-at-hindmarsh-stadium.aspx

A new episode of the new and improved podcast from newcastlefootball.net, The Jetstream Podcast is now available.

Join furns, Gary Fish and Timmyv on this edition, as they preview the Newcastle United Jets season 10/11 both on the pitch and off, including preseason performances, new signings and players to watch as well as the first match against Adelaide in season 6 of the Hyundai A-League.  Other A-League clubs and Squadron news are also covered.

**The Jetstream is hosted on jellycast.com**

You can listen to the podcast via the media player below or subscribe to the podcast feed via iTunes or podcast.com, simply search for “newcastlefootball” or “jetstream” and click the appropriate link/s. Then you can update with episodes as soon as they come out and transfer them to your mp3 player/mobile phone/media device.

 

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Media Release from Newcastle Jets:

Jets to start with Reds and Heart

A fascinating clash away to this year’s AFC Champions League round of 16 participants, Adelaide United, will see the Newcastle Jets kick-off the Hyundai A-League 2010/11 season with a bang, after the draw for the expanded 11-team, 30-game competition was released earlier today.

The Jets’ campaign will begin on Friday, 6 August at Hindmarsh Stadium, with the club to host Hyundai A-League newcomers Melbourne Heart at EnergyAustralia Stadium in Round 2 on Friday, 13 August.

“The release of the season draw this afternoon is the first step in what we believe will be another memorable year for the club, its supporter base and stakeholders,” club chief executive John Tsatsimas explained.

“The club has undertaken a comprehensive analysis of data and feedback regarding the best possible playing times for our home matches during the forthcoming season and this has fundamentally been reflected in the draw. So, we are relatively pleased with the fixture list which we have in front of us.”

“Ongoing construction work at EnergyAustralia Stadium is of course another factor which has been taken into serious consideration, but supporters can rest assured that we have made every effort to accommodate their needs to ensure that a visit to the stadium on matchday is an enjoyable experience,” he said.

Indeed, the 2010/11 season is shaping as another exciting journey for the Hunter-based club, with the vast majority of the squad already settled, including new signings Jeremy Brockie, Ruben Zadkovich and former Qantas Socceroo Kasey Wehrman.

“There is a real air of excitement around the club as we begin pre-season preparations,” Mr. Tsatsimas said today after reviewing the season draw.

“With the World Cup on the horizon, passion and anticipation within the community is certainly rising, and on the back of that we look forward to seeing Newcastle abuzz once the A-League season commences.”

“Most importantly, we are delighted with the squad that we have assembled thus far for the upcoming season. We believe in this group of players and are hopeful of another strong tilt at the title when the season proper begins from August 6,” he said.

Meanwhile, the club’s membership drive for the 2010/11 season has been in full swing since mid-March, with masses of fans getting in before the draw was even released to take advantage of the wide range of membership options available. Season tickets have been incredibly popular since going on sale, and current figures suggest the club is on target to accumulate a record number of members before the season gets underway.

“We have been amazed by the positive, early response that we have had from our supporter base in relation to memberships for next season.”

“With the squad now back into training and community work, along with the draw now being publicly released, we anticipate a further rush in terms of membership numbers over the coming weeks,” Mr. Tsatsimas added.

Jump into the forums to see a full list of Newcastle Jets fixtures and post your comments.