Newcastle Jets have missed a golden opportunity to shore up an elusive spot in the finals after going down 2-1 to bottom placed Adelaide United at McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday evening.
The second placed Jets would’ve been more than assured of consolidating their position against an Adelaide side short on confidence following a 6-1 hammering at the hands of Canberra United a week earlier.
From the off things looked good for Newcastle with a host of chances falling their way with the final decisive touch just not able to be applied.
A superb Danielle Colaprico free kick after 20 minutes swung the match against the home side who never really recovered even after briefly restoring parity through a goal from Katie Stengel.
Coach Craig Deans was furious at his team post-match for wasting such a great opportunity to put fate more or less in their own hands.
“The performance just wasn’t good enough,” he said.
“Not up to the standard I expect of the players and if they’re honest with themselves, it’s not the standard they expect either.
“We wanted to win the last three games to have a chance of not just making the finals but finish in the top two and play a final here in Newcastle but it’s going to be hard now.
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The Jets won’t play again for two weeks when they face Canberra in what may prove to be a finals decider.
Deans was emphatic when asked whether a week off will come as a positive or negative following such a poor performance.
“It won’t be good for the players,” he said suggesting a tough week of training ahead.
Overall the coach seemed at a loss to explain where it all went wrong in what looked a straightforward game.
“Maybe we don’t train hard enough or maybe we train too much or maybe there’s something else we need to look at.
“The difference between the teams was attitude and ours wasn’t up to scratch,” Deans said.
After the penultimate game of the season away against Canberra the Jets will welcome Melbourne City to town for their final regular season game in a bid to avenge the 5-2 drubbing earlier in the season and secure a place in the finals.
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