Adelaide United overcame the fatigue from the 33 hour trip to the Hunter’s capital, by recording an impressive 2-0 win over the Newcastle Jets in a controversial encounter at H
In front of a parochial Novocastrian crowd of 14 868, the Reds ruined Jets marquee signing Emile Heskey’s first run in the A–League by acquiring all three points after goals from Dario Vidosic in the 2nd minute and Iain Ramsay in the 76th.
John Kosmina’s men showed no signs of lethargy despite only finishing their ACL campaign on Thursday, as Dario Vidosic silenced the crowd within the opening two minutes after getting on the end of a floated cross from new import Jeronimo Neumann.
The Jets dominated the rest of the first half with an obvious retention based plan however struggled to play out from the back, continuously attempting to play long balls to Heskey into the stiff breeze with little effect. Newcastle had over 60% possession in the first half yet struggled to make the most of their opportunities, leading all aspects of the game except the scoreboard.
The Jets continued to try and find Heskey, with his best chance coming from a cross in the 50thminute from Neville but he barely made contact. Surprisingly in the somewhat physical encounter the first yellow card went to Newcastle born Nigel Boogaard in the 51stminute after a reckless challenge on Heskey.
The boisterous Novocastrian crowd sprung to life after debutant referee Shaun Evans red carded Birighitti for a highly controversial hand ball outside the box. The 10 man Jets could only hold on until the 76th minute, with Vidosic again in the action, crossing effectively to Ramsay who had the simple task of tapping it in at the far post.
The Reds continued to thwart any possible Jets chances by effectively controlling possession in the final ten minutes. The Reds deserved their gutsy win in trying circumstances, earning themselves the three points and perhaps enough frequent flyer miles to book first class on the trip home.
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