Sydney FC remains undefeated in the Hyundai A-League competition after claiming a hard-earned point in its round four clash with the Newcastle Jets.
Sydney FC remains undefeated in the Hyundai A-League competition after claiming a hard-earned point in its round four clash with the Newcastle Jets.
In what was an enthralling encounter, the Sky Blues faced stiff opposition from the defending Champions, and were forced to settle for a nil all draw
“Had we got one in the first half I think the floodgates would have opened to be honest,” said Sydney coach, John Kosmina after the match. “The longer the game went on the more confident Newcastle became, and that showed in the performance.”
There was fire and brimstone in the opening exchanges, with former Jets Mark Bridge and Stuart Musialik given a less-than-hospitable welcome back to Energy Australia Stadium.
Despite the pressure being applied on the field and from the stands, the visitors dominated the early possession, before a break against the run of play saw Newcastle import, Edmundo fire the first real chance of the game into Sydney-s side net in the 9th minute.
From there both sides then settled into some fluctuating, end to end football.
While the hosts kept coming, the Sky Blues seemed to have the edge in attack, with good first half chances falling to Fyfe, Brosque and most notably, John Aloisi.
Clint Bolton and his defensive four still had plenty to do to contain the danger at the other of the park though, and a thoroughly entertaining first period eventually came to a close with neither side managing to trouble the scorers.
The second half started slowly but Jet, James Holland brought the game to life when his lofty cross had Bolton stretching before belting against the cross-bar three minutes after the restart.
That sparked a string of nerve-jangling Newcastle corners, but Sydney survived.
Moments later they almost came up with the perfect answer, but Aloisi couldn-t control his volley after some brilliant lead up work from Bridge.
The Jet-s confidence remained sky high however, and they continued to turn the screws.
Edmundo provided Holland another opportunity in the 56th minute but his well-hit effort was wide of the mark, and Adam Griffiths should have scored, but failed to capitalise when he was presented a free header, 20 minutes from full-time.
FC was forced to fight out the closing stages with only 10 men after substitute, Mitchell Prentice, was sent off late in the game after picking up his second yellow, but the home side couldn-t capitalise on the extra man and the honours were equally divided.
“It-s another game we didn-t concede and got a point out of it,” said Kosmina. “We played some really good stuff so from a football point of view I-m happy.”
Match Details
Sydney FC 0
Newcastle Jets 0
Sydney FC 1.Clint BOLTON (gk), 2. Iain FYFE, 6. Tony POPOVIC, 7. Rob MIDDLEBY, 8. Stuart MUSIALIK, 10. Steve CORICA (5. Mitchell PRENTICE 68-), 12. Shannon COLE (27. Matthew JURMAN 77-), 14. Alex BROSQUE (11. Brendon SANTALAB 81-), 15. Terry MCFLYNN, 19. Mark BRIDGE, 23. John ALOISI.
Substitute not used: 20. Ivan Necevski (gk).
Yellow Cards: Bridge 45-, Prentice 82-/88-, Santalab 90-+2
Red Cards: Prentice 88-
Goals: nil
Newcastle Jets 1. Ante COVIC (gk), 2. Adam GRIFFITHS (c), 5. James HOLLAND, 8. Matt THOMPSON, 9. Joel GRIFFITHS, 10. Jin-Hyung SONG, 11. Tarek ELRICH, 12. Jobe WHEELHOUSE, 15. Jason HOFFMAN, 23. Edmundo ZURA (16. Benjamin KANTAROVSKI 63-), 25. Daniel PORKOWSKI (3. Jade NORTH 72-).
Substitutes not used: 6. Jesper HAKANSSON, 20. Ben KENNEDY.
Yellow Cards: Thompson 9-, Elrich 84-, Wheelhouse 85-
Red Cards: nil
Goals: nil
Referee: Peter O-Leary
Crowd: 11,535
