Hi all, as this is my first attempt at doing a true and thorough match review, please go easy.
Jets and Wellington Player Ratings……

NEWCASTLE
Birraz – 6: A very shaky performance. Caught in no man’s land on a couple of occasions. Relieved to have little to do in the second half as his side dominated thoroughly.
Mullen – 6: Went missing down the right flank when McGlinchey drilled in the low cross to set up the opening goal and continually left gaps throughout the first half. Looked more comfortable when he switched to centreback.
Jackson – 7: Strong in the air. Knew where to be and when to be there. Helped out in attack whenever possible and even set-up the crucial equalizer.
Hoffman – 6.5: Kept on battling despite taking two blows to his shoulder. Had to be taken off at the break.
Boogs – 7.5: Provided the biggest threats in the first half with his darting runs down the left flank. Made a pivotal clearance off the line to keep his side afloat. The outcome could have been very different if it wasn’t for him.
Carney – 6.5: Very industrious but for all his clever runs and cheeky flicks, there was hardly any end product.
Poljak – 7: Didn’t see as much of the ball as he would’ve liked. His long range passing and shooting looked suspiciously out of sync.
Kitto – 6.5: Left flailing whenever Wellington’s midfield line charged forward on the counter. Looked more composed in the second half as the team started controlling the match.
Kanta – 7: Barely noticeable for large parts of the first half. But took all of two minutes into the second half to come to life with a stunning strike to draw the game levelled.
Alivodic – 7.5: Caused the Wellington backline endless headaches. Had a few strong shouts for a penalty. Like Kanta, he looked out of sorts with his normally lethal shooting.
Milos – 6.5: Spurned a number of great chances with his indecisiveness. Ironically, it was because of that flaw that lead to the second goal when he missed a shooting chance and had to play the ball back to Poljak.

Substitutes:
Cowburn – 8.5: Completely turned the game around and revived his team’s jaded attack. Left the Wellington defenders chasing thin air most of the time. Showed his class with a clinical finish for the third goal.
Leonardo – 7: Held up the ball well when he needed to. Created the third goal with a lovely pull back.
Cooper – 4: Meh.

WELLINGTON
Moss – 7: Made a few good saves to deny Newcastle drawing levelled in the first period. Could not be blamed for the three goals his team leaked in.
Gulley – 6.5: Good reading of the game. Knew exactly when to cut into the middle to help out his centrebacks. But very fortunate to stay on the pitch after the reckless tackle on Kitto.
Durante – 7.5: Barely put a foot wrong. Dealt with everything Newcastle could muster in the first period, whether it was low passes, high balls, crosses or through balls. Continued to impress in the second but the pressure was just too much.
Danaskos – 6: A little unsure with his positioning, but together with Durante, they kept Newcastle at bay for long periods.
Fox – 6.5: Like Gulley, he had to work hard cutting in from the flank to the centre to overload the penalty area.
Lia– 6: Quietly pulled the strings in the first half but just went plain quiet in the second. Had to play virtually as an extra defender just to get a touch of the ball.
Bonevacia – 7: So lively in the first half but like everyone else in Stripes, completely disappeard after the restart.
Rodriguez– 6: Made up the numbers in midfield but started to struggled immensely when Alivodic dropped down deep following Cowburn’s introduction.
Riera – 6.5: Solid in the first half but failed to keep up with the pace in the second and it was his failure to pick out Poljak’ run that lead to Newcastle’s second goal.
McGlinchey – 7: Constantly back-tracked to help out Fox to defend the left flank. Exploited the space left vacant for him to attack but a shame none of his other deliveries from the wings were converted into goals.
Powell – 6: Like Milos, he fluffed a few decent chances in the first half. He must have regretted it as he was utterly isolated after the resumption.
Substitutes:
Appiah-Kubi – 5: Only had one meaningful touch of the ball and he went and gave it away.
Doyle – 5: Brought in to tighten up the backline but he didn’t do any better than the rest.
Ridenton – 6: Extra points for scoring his side’s only goal.

If after reading this, you get the feeling I didn’t even watch the game…. You’re right – my real Sunday Arvo match report would actually read as follows….. I was planning to get the Wellington Game all week, Furns had even asked me to do a player ratings match report, I’d filled the car with Petrol to save time on Sunday arvo as the 2hr drive from beautiful sleepy Wingham isn’t one that I’m too keen to add time onto….. Then on Saturday night I got a message from a mate calling a Sunday arvo beers session at a chilled out local beer garden… some crazy weird Hippy band were playing and the beers were expected to be cold. The Stone and Wood Pacific Ale was a bit light and “thin” so I quickly switched the White Rabbit Dark Ale, which was much more robust in flavour and far easier to sit on and chill out, to the Gypsy Pirate Circus weird stuff these band (who looked like Beetlejuice and Captain Jack Sparrow’s love child on Acid) were playing. I got home just in time for Dinner and to listen to Big Phil and Adam talk about lots of things and occasionally fill us in on what was happening on the pitch. The kids needed bathing so I turned off the radio at 1-0 figuring that if me not being at the match in person was actually helping the team win, then listening to it on the radio probably wasn’t a good idea…. So in short, it’s my fault we won!

Important links for the fully immersive online experience of football match reports…..
The Bar I was at instead of being at the game….. http://www.flowbar.com.au/#about
Stone and Wood Pacific Ale details…… http://stoneandwood.com.au/beers/pacific-ale/
White Rabbit, Dark Ale, by Little Creatures….. http://whiterabbitbeer.com.au/
The Band – the Sea Gypsie Orchestra … https://soundcloud.com/the-sea-gypsies-1
the match report – a 3-1 Win for Arsenal over Everton in 2008… http://www.goal.com/en/news/8/main/2008/10/18/919065/player-ratings-arsenal-3-1-everton

Gary Fish