The Melbourne Victory and the Newcastle Jets played out a 1-1 draw in a match that will be remembered for a number of controversial refereeing decisions.
Chris Beath was the man under the most heat after a number of confusing moments cost the visitors and virtually ended their finals chances once and for all. He sent off Daniel Mullen for two bookable offences that were both questionable and led to the Jets goalkeeping coach Jess van Stratten being sent to the stands for dissent.
Earlier, Ryan Kitto put the Jets in the ascendancy with a desperate finish from close range after clever lead up work from the Brazilian Leonardo. Besart Berisha was the familiar name that equalised for the Victory, but it could be deemed fortunate as replays showed the Albanian hitman was offside.
The result leaves the Victory in the top six, but they will need to improve markedly if they are going to be any chance of defending their title.
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Jets lack of pace equals a lack of goals
It has been a struggle in front of goal for the Jets all season and today’s match was no exception. Newcastle gained control midway through the first-half and the technical ability of Leonardo in particular was causing the Victory problems with alarming regularity. The visitors were in behind on numerous occasions, but their lack of top end speed allowed the Victory to get back time and time again. One example occurred midway through the half when young fullback Nick Cowburn played a delightful pass with the outside of his right foot into the path of Serbian Enver Alivodic. He looked the favourite to get to the ball first and get in on Lawrence Thomas’ goal, but allowed the evergreen Mathieu Delpierre to beat him to the ball. Delpierre is a quality reader of the game, but pace is certainly not one of his strong points.
Even in the build up before the goal Leonardo allowed his defender to get back into the contest and if it was not for the hunger and desire of the young South Australian Kitto, the Jets would have missed another opportunity. Scott Miller will need to add speed in the wide areas next season if Newcastle are to add to their league lowest goals tally and push for the finals next season.
Chris Beath’s decision turned the flow of the match
The visitors were well worth their lead as they had caused problems for the Kevin Muscat’s men on numerous occasions. Their defender Mullen had only just returned from suspension for accruing two yellow cards and was also sent off a fortnight ago against the Glory. In this match he earned a fifth minute yellow card for an innocuous collision with Besart Berisha near the halfway line and was given his marching orders for a challenge on Oliver Bozanic later in the half. Replays of the challenge showed that Mullen was first to the ball and was desperately unlucky to have been adjudged to have committed another foul. One could argue that it was foolish for the Jets man to slide in when on a yellow card, but the referee should also take some of the blame for what appeared to be an incorrect decision. A few weeks back at a press conference, Ernie Merrick intimated that the level of officiating in the competition had not been improved, even though selected referees are now full-time professionals. Chris Beath was also in charge that day and Newcastle got away with a few 50-50 decisions, today was the day the tide turned and the Jets had to find a way to hang on with 10-men.
Victory will need to be much better to be a factor in the finals
As this match went on, it seemed everything was falling into place for the Victory. The Jets were controversially reduced to 10-men and the Victory’s equaliser was shown on replay to be offside. One could also argue that Finkler was lucky only to be given a yellow card when he looked to kick out at Jason Hoffman early in the second-half. The Victory teams of yesteryear would have steamrolled over the top of their opposition and marched on to a comfortable three points, yet something is different with this current version of the A-League’s most successful club. Kevin Muscat’s men seem to be going through a slump in form at the moment and are not playing with their usual speed and creativity. Apart from the first 15 minutes in this one the Victory looked laboured for large periods. Even with the opposition down a man the reigning A-League champions struggled to create chances and the Jets were the team that looked more likely. Morten Nordstrand and Enver Alivodic in particular had glorious chances to extend the advantage. The Victory will have to be much better, or they will be in the finals simply to make up the numbers.
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