Points were shared at the Hunter Stadium Saturday afternoon as the Brisbane Roar and Newcastle Jets each scored once in the second-half.
It was an entertaining, end-to-end contest where both sides tried their best to score and take the three points. Brisbane played their usual possession based style but were not always on the same page, while Newcastle opted to try and get their goals on the counter-attack with David Carney once again heavily involved. Jamie McLaren opened the scoring with a smart left foot shot into the far corner before Ben Kantarovski capitalised on a goalmouth scrable to equalise. From there Brisbane pushed for a winner, but were denied by a fantastic Mark Birighitti save.
Fire at will
A week after not registering a shot on target, it was a totally different story for the Jets as they sought to pepper the Roar goal with their limited opportunities. David Carney rattled the crossbar and had Jamie Young easily beaten. Maybe it had something to do with the RAAF themed game but both sides were willing to fire from long range here as even the Roar were testing their luck. Of course with all of this distance shooting going on, it was perhaps fitting that both goals came from relatively close range inside the box.
Patience is a virtue…occasionally
Brisbane dominated possession from the outset, they moved the ball around relatively easily as the Jets sat back and waited for their opportunity. For the Roar there was not enough movement off the ball to really take advantage of this weight of possession though. Too often the man on the ball was looking around at white shirts that were far too stationary to receive a pass. When they did attempt to get into the box, their passes were not weighted correctly as the targeted player was making a run to a different spot. They will certainly feel as though they wasted a handful of chances that cost them a spot on top of the table.
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