Newcastle Jets must win this match to keep their Top 6 play-off dreams alive. In the A-league, the top 6 teams will play a post season Finals series to determine the champion. Fresh from the impressive away victory against Champions-elect, Sydney FC, the Jets’ coach Carl Robinson kept faith with the same starting XI. The Mariners gave 19-year old Alou Kuol his first taste of competitive action as they look to rebuild for next season. It was a cagey start by both teams. The Jets look to get forward with every opportunity while the Mariners played on the counter.

Although the final result of a goalless draw didn’t do any favours for both teams, there were some interesting take-aways from this match:

Rise of Bernie Ibini

Bernie Ibini seemed like an astute signing for the Newcastle Jets. He signed on a short-term contract to play for the remainder of the season. Although he has played for big clubs such as Sydney FC and Jeonbuk Motors, he had not exactly held down a starting position for those teams. Most A-league watchers won’t deny his talent but his inability to perform at a high level of consistency is what had hindered him all these years. At 27, he seemed to be a player reborn. In the Jets previous match, the way he breezed past the Sydney FC’s defence was a sight to behold and his combination plays with the Jets full-back, Matthew Millar, had the Mariners scrambling to clear the lines in the first half of this game. He ended his night by being substituted for Dimitri Petratos, who was a regular for most of the Jets’ matches this season.

What’s next for the Mariners?  

The Mariners’ aim for the remainder of the season must be to rebuild the team. It is almost guaranteed that they will receive the unenviable wooden spoon, a notorious title for the last placed team. This will be their third straight season in which they had achieved that feat. They are trailing the Melbourne Victory by 6 points, with the latter having played 3 games lesser. The Mariners had suffered 11 straight defeats in a row before this game as they equal the worst record in the competition’s history. However, they did manage to prevent the 12th straight loss which would have been catastrophic for the club’s history. Unless the board takes drastic action and improve the club’s overall structure, their fortunes are unlikely to improve.

Fatigue for Newcastle Jets

Since he took over, Carl Robinson had the Jets playing at a high tempo and applying huge pressure on their opponents. However, what seemed noticeable was after 4 months of inactivity, such a playing style has placed a heavy toll on his players, evident from the substitution of Matthew Millar due to cramp. In order to freshen his team’s approach to the game and find the winner, the trio of Dimitri Petratos, Jason Hoffman and Kosta Petratos were brought on around the hour mark. However, they were unable to secure that game winning goal.    

All in all, this derby had been a keenly contested one with the Mariners cancelling out the potent Jets attack. The Mariners coach, Alen Stajcic, had been working on improving their leaky defence and this clean sheet could be a silver lining for his team. Goalkeeper Mark Birighitti and his backline coming up with huge contributions to the cause. However, one can’t help but feel that this is just a temporary respite for them with tough games against Western Sydney and Melbourne Victory still to come.

For the Newcastle Jets, they are still trailing 6th placed Adelaide United by 2 points, albeit having played 2 games more. It looks like an uphill task to secure that last play-off spot but they will take solace in the fact that the team had massively improved and shown plenty of promising signs since Carl Robinson took over. Next season could be a different proposition altogether as the players will be more accustomed to the Welshman’s astute coaching methods. Jets fans have plenty to be excited about for their club’s future.

Posted by: NerazzuriX