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MARK Birighitti appears to have an opening-round berth securely in his grasp after Newcastle’s 0-0 draw with Central Coast in their pre-season trial match at Mudgee on Saturday.
Birighitti was the Jets’ first-choice goalkeeper for 23 games last season but was dropped for the final four games of that campaign, replaced by Ben Kennedy.
The arrival of new coach Phil Stubbins means the custodian position is up for grabs, but Kennedy’s prospects were not helped when he was unavailable for the trip to Mudgee because of illness.
Stubbins said he felt he had ‘‘two great goalkeepers’’ at his disposal but hinted that Birighitti had edged ahead in selection reckoning for the season-opener against the Mariners in Gosford on October 11.
‘‘He had a very strong game, Mark Birighitti,’’ Stubbins said yesterday.
‘‘He was one of our best performers on the day.
‘‘He’s played the last two games, Mark, but obviously Ben’s a terrific keeper as well.
‘‘But in terms of momentum in terms of the start of the season ... it’s untimely for Ben that he was sick and Mark’s played a strong game.
‘‘To be chopping and changing this close to the start of the campaign is something we would have to debate.’’
Saturday’s result was notable because Newcastle kept a clean sheet for the first time since Stubbins took charge, after losses to Perth, Brisbane and Sydney and last week’s 2-1 win against Wellington.
Stubbins rested skipper Kew Jaliens on Saturday and a new-look back four of Sam Gallaway, Sam Gallagher, Allan Welsh and Scott Neville contained the Mariners.
Newcastle started with a midfield comprising Jeronimo on the right and David Carney on the left, with Taylor Regan and Jacob Pepper anchoring the middle. Ecuadorean international Edson Montano started up front, with Joel Griffiths behind him in support, and they were replaced by Jeronimo and Marcos Flores in the second half.
Stubbins said Newcastle’s pre-season campaign had been challenging because injuries meant his team had ‘‘a different chemistry’’ in each trial game, but keeping the Mariners scoreless was an encouraging sign.
‘‘Central Coast were probably the dominant team in the first half but we made some observations at half-time and, to their credit, our players put that into practice in the second half,’’ Stubbins said.
‘‘The first 30 minutes of the second half I thought we dominated, and to keep a clean sheet was great for us.’’
Newcastle’s last official pre-season hit-out will be against the Young Socceroos at Gosford this weekend, although Stubbins will also hold intra-club practice matches to prepare for the first round.
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