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Newcastle Jets
Newcastle Jets held on for their first win in seven A-League
matches with a 2-1 triumph over local rivals Central Coast in a
passionately-contested F3 derby on Friday night.
On a night where tempers flared and tackles flew at EnergyAustralia
Stadium, two goals inside the opening 14 minutes proved enough for
Branko Culina's men to score a morale-boosting victory.
Strikers Michael Bridges and Labinot Haliti put the home side up in
front of 6188 fans, before Adam Kwasnik pulled one back for the
Mariners five minutes later.
There proved to be no more goals, but still plenty of action as the
sides breathed life back in to their once-intense rivalry after
some timid affairs in recent seasons.
Bridges put the home side up after just eight minutes with his
first goal for the Jets after a brilliant flick from Haliti.
The former Leeds man then turned inside with a neat touch and
finished superbly with a powerful shot.
The Jets kept their foot on the accelerator and doubled their
advantage in the 14th minute through Haliti after Central Coast
dealt poorly with a set piece.
Matt Simon's attempted clearance cannoned into Nikolai
Topor-Stanley and despite hints of hand-ball, play continued and
Haliti was there to tap in from close range.
A John Hutchinson tackle on Jin-Hyung Song then sparked an all-in
scuffle that lasted almost two minutes and resulted in both Dean
Heffernan and Fabio Vignaroli earning yellow cards.
The Mariners put themselves back into the match in spectacular
style on 19 minutes when Kwasnik got on the end of a Matt Crowell
cross with a sweet volley.
Vignaroli fired a curling long-range shot just centimetres wide
after 34 minutes while Kwasnik went just over with another volley
just before halftime.
Michael McGlinchey did his best to produce some much-needed
brilliance for the Mariners, twice testing Jets 'keeper Ben Kennedy
from long range, including an ambitious, looping effort from near
halfway.
Tempers flared again between Simon and Bridges before Kwasnik
missed a golden chance to put the scores level in the 60th minute,
glancing a header wide.
Danny Vukovic prevented the Jets from going further ahead with a
great save to deny Song late in the half.
Culina took a gamble pre-match by handing Angelo Costanzo a
start at centre back and switching to a 3-5-2 formation and it paid
dividends, with the veteran defender having a fine game.
But the coach refused to take the credit for the win, praising his
side for showing the sort of character required to be a force in
the league this season.
"I think it showed we've got what it takes," Culina said.
"There has been some talk about 'has Newcastle got that mental
toughness and that physical presence that's required?' and I think
tonight we showed we have it.
"It was really a game of two halves so to speak - the first we
played some terrific football and set up the win and the second
half, where the players challenged themselves.
"I thought they were terrific."
Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna was left to again lament his
fifth-placed side's inconsistency after it failed to build on last
week's 3-0 win over Brisbane.
"A win tonight we would have been right back in the mix," McKinna
said.
"Now we're back in the scrap with everybody else.
"We'll be celebrating when we win two games in a row.
"But credit to Newcastle, the first 15 minutes won them the
game."
NEWCASTLE JETS 2 (Michael Bridges 8m, Labinot
Haliti 14m) beat
CENTRAL COAST MARINERS 1 (Adam
Kwasnik 19m) at EnergyAustralia Stadium.
Crowd: 6,188. Referee: Strebre Delovski
