Newcastle Jets first win of the 2019-20 W-League campaign was a product of a better defensive effort says Hannah Brewer.
The 2-1 victory over Perth Glory at Dorrien Gardens comes off the back of a draw and two defeats to start the season for the Jets.
“We’ve been working on having trust and faith in the backline and knowing that the player next to you or in front of you are going to work hard, going to get behind the ball or put pressure on it or whatever they need to do,” Brewer said.
Newcastle had scored three goals from as many games ahead of their trip to Perth but defending Glory’s attacking threats was always the challenge, having conceded five goals this season.
“We obviously knew we could do it (defend) and we also knew it would be hard and a good challenge for us, but we got an early goal and that got us right into the game,” Brewer said.
“That carried some momentum through to the second half.”
Glory’s poor record conceding goals in the first half continued as Nickoletta Flannery was able to turn a goal line scramble into the opening goal.
Newcastle did concede but only after Tara Andrews had doubled their advantage and they were able to hold on.
“We made it a little bit hard on ourselves just dropping off and giving them a little bit of respect and letting them play some good football and we then conceded from that, but we scrambled right to the end,” Brewer said.
“We just stuck our teeth in, it wasn’t easy, it wasn’t pretty football but we got the job done.
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A particularly physical game saw a number of injury stoppages, especially after a downpour at half time but Brewer said her side had prepared for that.
“We were expecting that,” she said.
“Perth are never easy beats and they always put up a challenge, no matter who they have on the park and it was certainly a physical game but the ref was brilliant.”
The Jets have a tough assignment ahead when they host Sydney FC at McDonalds Jones Stadium before their first bye for the season.
Brewer said the win would be a springboard for the Jets ahead of another tricky fixture.
“We’ve had a few tough weeks just losing by one goal which is difficult, but I think we needed this win to break open and carry that momentum into the next game, and hopefully we can take this and have a win in front of a home crowd which would be brilliant,” she said.
“Away games are difficult and you do what you can to get the win, and that’s what we’ve done tonight so to play like that and hold our heads high going into that next game is great for us.”
Feature Image Credit: Sproule Sports Focus
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