The Mariners have defeated the Jets 2-1 in a entertaining derby match at Energy Australia Stadium – the late finishing Mariners had too much for the Jets in the second half.

Who would have believed the two teams fought out the Grand Final in February earlier this year when looking at the competition table -, the Mariners briefly went to top spot and the Jets dead last (their hopes of a top four spot over). Both these teams will however complete in the lucrative Asian Football Confederation Champions League from March.

The Jets start on fire Matt Thomson finds Joel Griffiths on the edge of the penalty area and Joel unleashes a curling shot which is centimetres wide of the upright.

On eight minutes a D’Apuzzo throw-in finds Jesic in the penalty area, he is dragged down by Gumprecht, referee Peter O’Leary points to the spot, it’s a penalty which sends the home fans into applause. Joel Griffiths sets up and then sends the ball high into the top right corner of the net, its 1-0 Jets.

On just 17 minutes young Marko Jesic limps off with what looks like a serious knee injury, he is replaced by Wheelhouse.

On 26 minutes Thomson blocks Boljic clearance and races away on goal, his fierce shot is blocked by the advancing Vukovic, the ball rebounds to Griffiths but his follow up shot is also blocked by Vukovic.

The Mariners finally look threatening, a great cross by MaCallister on the half hour finds Petrovski who heads over from point blank range.

The first half ends with a great Song through ball that has Wheelhouse in the clear but from a angle his shot is straight at Vukovic as the half time whistle goes. Its been a exciting first half

The second half commences with a Joel Griffiths pass for Song but Heffernan intercepts.

On 54 minutes Hutchinson finds Petrovski on the edge of the penalty area, but Sasho blazes wide of the upright.

The Jets try to go two up on 58 minutes Wheelhouse finds Joel Griffiths, he lets go with a thunder bolt but its straight at Vukovic. Moments later Song and Joel Griffiths combine, Song crosses for Joel, his header forces a diving save from Vukovic.

On 66 minutes Heffernan reaches the by line, whips in a cross for Petrovski who gets in front of his defender and heads past Covic at the near post, its 1-1 and the travelling fans celebrate.

It becomes real end to end stuff as both teams search for a winner, the Mariners aiming to go top and the Jets aiming to keep their season alive, but the game is settled in a 60 second spell with just 11 minutes to go, Joel Griffiths back heels for Song who has time at the edge of the penalty area to place a shot, he fires away, sadly for the home fans the ball goes just over the cross bar.

The Mariners respond instantly – a quickly taken Petrovski free kick finds Simon, and he is able to fend off two Jets defenders to then fire past the advancing Covic. It’s 2-1 Mariners.

The final minutes has the Jets going forward in numbers but they are unable to break through as often the final pass is astray and the Mariners cleverly bring the ball forward and are able to waste valuable time.

The final whistle sees some pushing and shoving and Macallister is given a red card by Referee Peter O’Leary. It ends 2-1 Mariners.

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The Newcastle Jets have defeated Melbourne Victory 1-0 in their National Youth League clash at Bob Jane Stadium on Saturday.

The opening minutes saw end to end play without any real threat to either goal. Nick Ward was prominent early for Victory gaining some early touches all over the park.

The Jets had an early opportunity to strike in the 10th minute after Fabio Di Lizia fouled Shaun Ontong on the edge the box. The resulting free kick was taken by Jesper Hakansson but it was met easily by Mitchell Langerak.

Melbourne had a golden opportunity to open the scoring in the 17th minute when a good through ball by Pantelidis put Ward in the box. With just Ben Kennedy to beat, Ward shot over the bar.

In the 19th minute only the brilliance of Mitchell Langerak came between the Jets and the lead. Matt Thompson’s pass found Jason Naidovski whose shot to the bottom right corner was palmed out by the diving Langerak.

Newcastle opened the scoring in the 27th minute. The Jets were awarded the free kick for handball only 10 metres outside the box. Matt Thompson’s curling free was saved by Langerak only for Marko Jesic to smash the rebound into the back of the net.

In the 41st minute Victory had another chance when Ward threaded a gap to pass to Nathan Elasi whose shot was blocked by Kennedy.

An eventful first half came to an end after one additional minute with the Jets leading 1-0.

Victory started the second half in the same manner as the first with attacking play. Leigh Broxham’s shot from outside the box in the 47th minute was taken by Kennedy diving low to his right.

Victory had a free kick in the 48th minute after a foul by Antun Kovacic resulted in him being the first player booked for the game. Nick Ward met the free with a glancing header, but it was well over the cross bar.

The end to end action continued with Langerak’s best efforts required to dive at full stretch and palm out Kovacic’s header in the 51st minute.

After an early flurry of goal scoring opportunities early in the second half, the free flowing play became somewhat halted with some tackles and rough challenges resulting in yellow cards to the Victory’s Leigh Broxham and Mifit Bojku.

The Jets had a chance to double their advantage in the 76th minute when Hakansson passed the ball to Patafta, who laid it off to Harper, running towards Langerak, but his shot was poor and didn’t force the Victory stopper into making a save.

In the 85th minute Ward chased down a seemingly lost ball before it went out of play to earn his team a corner. Di Lizia met the corner with an unchallenged header but it was over the cross bar.

In the 90th minute Victory pushed forward once again. Griffiths rushed to the ball but the bounce was unkind, leaving him to head it from outside the box. It went to Ward who centred to Elasi, whose shot was cleared off the line by a desperate Newcastle defence.

The Jets held off the late challenge from Victory to record only their second win of the season. The win keeps them in touch with the top four on 7 points, whilst Victory remain on the bottom with only one win from their eight matches.

Victory coach Mehmet Durakovic was pleased with his team’s performance, but disappointed with the result.

“We played quite well and had our chances,” he said.

“One mistake in defence was costly, we are a young side and made small mistakes.”

Durakovic was positive his side could bounce back and find some winning form.

“We will look at the mistakes made and try to rectify them,” he said.

“We are not doing a lot wrong, but it is a matter of simple mistakes costing us.”

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Newcastle Jets held competition leaders Sydney FC to a 1-1 draw in a hard-fought and open encounter at Campbelltown Stadium.

The league’s top scorer Leena Khamis netted three minutes after the interval but Katie Gill’s equaliser mid-way through the second half ensured the first ever draw of the Westfield W-League.

A first half arm-wrestle gave way to an open second half with both teams creating a number of quality goalscoring opportunities.

The Jets could have scored in the opening minutes of the match when a corner swung in from the left was flicked on by Cheryl Salisbury with Stacey Day twice denied in the ensuing melee.

Sydney FC replied with a Kylie Ledbrook free kick from distance that flew over the crossbar, with Servet Uzunlar also letting fly with the similar result.

On the half hour Khamis was put clear but she pulled her shot wide under pressure from Salisbury.

Sydney had a golden opportunity to break the deadlock late in the half but Khamis overhit her pass to Linda O’Neill who only had the goalkeeper to beat.

The best chance of the half fell right on the stroke of half time with Salisbury’s pinpoint cross from the left flank met expertly by Katie Gill but her header narrowly cleared the crossbar landing on the roof of the net.

Khamis broke the deadlock just after the break when she made good connection with a volley that took a massive deflection off Salisbury, wrong-footing Logue and looping into the goal. It was Khamis’ fifth goal in four starts to keep her at the top of the league’s goalscorers’ chart.

Midfield dynamo Uzunlar was inches away from being rewarded for a player of the match performance but her rasping shot from just outside the area narrowly cleared the right post.

Newcastle equalised mid-way through the second half with Gill displaying great strikers instinct to latch onto a loose ball and bury her shot into the far corner from 20 metres for her third goal of the season.

Khamis could have given her side the lead for a second time when she sprung the offside trap, and although Logue made a partial save, it took a last-ditch goal-line clearance from Gema Simon to maintain parity.

The action opened up further as the match wore on with play moving from end to end as fatigue set in on the sandy pitch.

Substitute Jessica Seaman could have won it for Sydney FC with virtually the last kick of the game but her snapshot went narrowly wide.

“I though it was a fairly even game, but I felt we shaded them in terms of chances and shots and thought we probably deserved a 2-1 or 3-1 victory,” said Sydney FC coach Alen Stajcic.

“We are still carrying a few injuries, and have to get through the next couple of weeks with the players we have got, who all did quite well today.”

“We will get the likes of Heather Garriock and Sarah Walsh back and am sure we will be a threat to the competition.”

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Newcastle Jets gradually dominated the Mariners after a slow start and knocked in four goals to sent the home side to the bottom of the table.

The first 10 minutes of the game was full of very tentative play with the Mariners shading the visitors, with the first chance of the game falling to Laurence Braude who received a ball played in after the Mariners won it with a solid challenge on the left. Braude shot through players in the area and it was on target until Jets keeper Jordan Griffiths saw it late and made an acrobatic save to his left.

In the 21st minute the Newcastle side drew first ‘blood’ in the derby when Jesse Pinto blasted a free kick from outside the area, off the wall and past a beaten Coast keeper Matthew Nash. 0-1

The Jets’s confidence grew through the half, and although Darko Vidovic had a great chance with a header right in the front but sent high and well over. In the 34th minute Adrian Krakolevski made it 0-2 when his show from range curled into the top left corner of the net with Nash slow to react. 0-2

In the second half the Mariners had some chances that were generally squandered, and their formation was disjointed.

The visitors finished stronger with Coast central defender Nathan Sherlock a contributor to both. Firstly substitute Virgil outran Sherlock and with Nash out but hesitent, Virgil rounded them both and slotted the ball home. 0-3

In the fourth and final goal Sherlock miss-hit his pass back to his keeper, so former Marconi Stallion Brodie Mooy pounced and slipped it inside the upright with Nash beaten. 0-4

Newcastle thoroughly deserved their win and moved off the bottom of the table to be replaced by the Mariners, who have a lot more work to do on their formation.

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