Category Archives: News

Newcastle Jets Up For The Cup

By Simon Kelly

When the Newcastle Jets kicked off their Australia Cup game against Melbourne Victory my plane was just hitting the runway at Sydney Airport. A combination of jet lag and mild technophobia meant that streaming the game on my mobile phone was proving difficult.

Facebook updates kept me happy and when Archie Goodwin had followed up Trent Buhagier’s first half goal I began to relax into the ponderous train journey back to Novocastria, the only drawback (apart from how slow the train is), was travelling through that turdhole Gosford.

Oh how naive was I? Have I not learned anything in the last few years as a diehard Jets fan? Facebook had started to look frantic, but no one was making a definitive comment. I quickly messaged another Jets diehard tragic to find out what was going on. Two goals conceded in injury time!

Inexplicable….no just another average day in the life of a Newcastle Jets supporter. A little more effort and some accurate advice from my messaged mate and I tuned in for some extra time excitement.
We looked the better side and maybe we should have as Victory had
decided to play largely a second string/youth outfit. But you can only play against what’s in front of you.

Trent Buhagier had two guilt edged chances in the passage of extra time, but both efforts were wide of the Victory goals. He’s a player that has frustrated fans in his time in the Hunter. A great athlete who seems to need numerous chances to score a goal. The rumour mill currently has him heading to the Indian Premier League, but I can confirm he was at Jets training on my brief visit last week.

The penalty shootout, true to form was a nail biter. Would our team have it any other way? Goodwin and Folami both converted their respective pens.

Daniel Stynes shot was saved by Victory keeper Ahmad Teleb. William Wilson, who’d previously converted from the penalty spot to take the game into extra time, had his shot saved by newly signed goalkeeper Ryan Scott.

Callum Timmins scored, just and Nishan Velupillay did likewise for Victory. Carl Jenkinson hammered his pen home but Jordi Valadon missed the goal completely. Centre back Phil Cancar cooly converted his dot shot to deservedly send Newcastle into the Round of 32.

There are a couple of noteworthy points worth considering with this penalty shootout. Firstly massive credit must go to Daniel Stynes for stepping up in this shootout. I got the impression that he was trying to redeem himself. He played a part in both the Victory goals. Losing the ball cheaply for the first and a weak wayward header back towards the Newy goal for the second..

Yes keeper Scott was the guilty party in conceding the penalty, but the ball shouldn’t have been put there in the first place. A lesser player would have stood back and called it a night. It wasn’t the worst taken penalty (even on the night), on target, but a little too tame. I’m sure his minutes on the field and that penalty were a massive learning curve for the 24 year old midfielder.

Secondly the way the other Jets players got around Stynes at the conclusion of the game spoke volumes. This team is definitely in it together, as they should be, but from a fans perspective that kind of camaraderie is what is required and fantastic to see.

Although the current football media chatter is mainly  Matildas/Womens World Cup, and rightly so, it’s still possible to find some A League related articles and comment. Even though the season is two and a half months away some pundits are keen to stick the boot in and predict a wooden spoon for the Newcastle Jets club and for new coach Rob Stanton to be the first A League coach to be shown the door.

I doubt either will occur, but it just goes to show how quickly some will write others off. The underdog tag is one that the Hunter Valley faithful will relish.

If there is a slight concern for some fans then it maybe the lack of player recruitment. Stantons first interview a month ago alluded to bringing in a striker, centre mid and a central defender. Apostolos Stamatelpoulos (striker) was announced a few days after this interview.

As recently as last week the rumour mill kicked into gear with speculation of a Spanish centre back, 31 year old Victor Adeva, signing for Newy. This has fizzled to nothing. That said we have signed Jacob Dowse, Daniel Wilmering, Lachlan Bayliss, Clayton
Taylor and Lucas Mauragis has thankfully returned to the fold.

Our budget is low and with our benefactors (WSW, Western United, Sydney FC and Wellington Phoenix) patience seemingly wearing thin, it’s worrying to say the least. Arthur Papas’s reference to ownership “that’s the biggest signing we can make”, is still ringing in fans ears.

Back to the football on the field though and Monday 14th August will see Newcastle take on the Brisbane Roar in Maitland for the Round of 32, Australia Cup. Archie Goodwin will be sidelined due to his re-occurring back complaint. Hopefully this will be our only missing player. It will be a good opportunity for local fans to see the team up close. Progress in the Cup will help drive interest too. Extra time and a penalty shoot out is not preferred either!

Freaky Weather Wont Stop The Newcastle Jets

By Simon Kelly

On the opening day of season 22/23 I was one of the few hundred that ventured south for the first instalment of the F3 Derby.

The weather in the form of NSW third La Niña took control of our day out and after some over extended deliberations the Round 1 fixture was called off due to a flooded pitch.

The crowd had sat patiently waiting, possibly even hoping for a minor miracle, and a game to watch. Fans in attendance viewed an osprey fly over the pitch with a fish in its talons. We did joke with all the water on the ground, if it was fortunate enough to be dropped, it could swim its way back into Brisbane Waters.

We watched the Matt Simon tribute and booed him just for old times sake.

One thing that I was confident about was that the weather would surely not play it’s part and cause another Newcastle Jets game to be cancelled.

The Round 16 home fixture against Melbourne Victory produced some testing conditions for the players. A prevailing wind and 27 degrees of heat (crazy 3pm kick off, which apparently will be no more come NEXT season… why wait until then?!!?).

To the players credit they dealt with it and kudos to Beka Mikeltadze for stepping up to take the penalty (and score the opening goal). The ball continued to roll away from the penalty spot thanks to the
wind. The fact that he’d missed his last penalty must have made this all the more harder.

The 2-1 win was deserved and the unfortunate late non VAR call in favour of the Victory was an ironic situation that had social media tongues wagging and Jets fans wryly smiling.

The game against the Macarthur Bulls had already been sensibly put back an hour due to the expected high temperatures. What transpired as the fixture progressed was some of the freakiest weather conditions that the A-League has ever witnessed.

Thankfully the Newcastle players handled the conditions in the earliest part of the game well. Trent Buhagier got his fourth
goal of the season after a well executed pass from Kosta Grozos. The pass got the Jets striker in behind the defence and Jonathan Aspropotamitis inexplicably played the ball back across his own goal. Buhagier gratefully brought the ball under control and hit the back of the net despite Kurto getting a glove on it.

Jack Duncan proven his worth early in the game by reaching up and catching a ball that looked freakishly bound for a goal largely again due to the wind. I have to admit I’ve been one of Duncan’s detractors, but his recent form is proving myself and many others to be wrong. Onya Jack and may your rich vein of form continue.

And then if the wind just wasn’t enough the lightning ensued and the officials brought a halt to proceedings in the 14th minute. I’ve got to admit that Daniel Garb did a great job interviewing players and coaches and kept things interesting for the tv viewers.

More than hour and a half later the game resumed, but a little more than 10 minutes later the officials got the jitters again as lightning struck nearby. To be honest it was looking like they may abandon this game.

Full marks to everyone involved though, officials, players, coaching staff etc and of course the fans that stuck around ( including the very vocal travelling Newy supporters). The game resumed again at 8.35 eventually concluding at 10.

A staunch and resolute Newcastle Jets held out all the Macarthur attacking raids for a well deserved 1-0 victory.

This is now 6 games on the bounce undefeated for Newcastle. So what has changed in the most recent weeks?
The back four have looked progressively like a genuine defence. The
Jenkinson/Jurman centre back pairing for the most part is working. Jurman is looking like the player we expected last season and Jenkinson’s experience and no nonsense approach is first rate.

The starting fullbacks Hoffman and Ingham have played well too. Jason Hoffman shows no signs of giving the game away just yet. Some thought he’d no longer play the 90 plus minutes, how wrong those people are. Dane Ingham can frustrate Newy fans, but his performances this season are easily better than last seasons
campaign.

I also feel that the recent swap of James McGarry for Thomas Aquilina has worked in our favour. McGarry was good going forward but his defensive positioning left a lot to be desired. Not so Aquilina, who can and probably will play either side in the fullback role.

The recent injury to Reno Piscopo was a genuine blow for the team. Since switching to a more central attacking role had been a big part of the Jets recent resurgence. He’ll be out for at least another three games.

Kosta Grozos has proven to be a handy replacement though, scoring the winner against Melbourne Victory and having an improved performance against Macarthur. Mo Al-Taay has genuinely surprised the Hunter faithful, with Brandon O’Neill injured, he has proved to be a very willing and capable replacement. One thing that’s noticeable is his scanning, or lack of it at times. I’m sure Papas and the coaching staff will improve this over time. It does sound like O’Neill will be back very soon, which gives Arthur Papas a tricky selection decision.

Thurgate has been immense this season and probably Newcastle’s most consistent performer. If he can add a few more goals that would obviously help, but he’ll be a player hard to replace if he does get a coveted overseas transfer.

Beka Mikeltadze is yet to get anywhere near last years goal tally, but he is without doubt contributing. His work rate is phenomenal and his confidence levels are always high. More goals will come his way I’m sure.

Buhagier and Sotirio have been good acquisitions but I sometimes wonder why we aren’t playing more balls in behind opposition defences. They’re both speedsters and surely this is another way of creating more chances.

 

There’s obviously more players that could rate a mention but Manabu Saito is our highest profile signing (at least in the attacking third) in at least four years. He didn’t see much of the ball in his debut Jets game. It was though a classy cameo. Fantastic first touch, quick to look forward and go forward, whether dribbling or passing. Against Macarthur he took up some great positions, in space, which his own team mates weren’t necessarily seeing. Once he’s integrated fully into this side, I know we’re going to be in for some champagne football.

The Novocastrians next assignment is a flailing Western United at home. If you haven’t been turning up to watch (and plenty haven’t) then get along to Turton Road for the 5pm kick off on Saturday. 26 degrees predicted and no sign of cyclonic storms.

Come On Newcastle.

2020/21 A-League Match Day 2 Preview – Newcastle Jets v Western Sydney Wanderers

2020/21 Hyundai A-League
Match day 2
Newcastle Jets v Western Sydney Wanderers

When: Friday 8th January, 2021
Where: McDonald Jones Stadium
Kickoff: 07:05pm AEDST
Tickets: Ticketek Link
Watch: FoxSports, Kayo App and MyFootballLive app
Tweet: @SquadronNewy @JetstreamNewy #NTUA #MadeOfNewcastle

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