Newcastle Jets launched into fourth place on the Liberty A-League ladder after a 2-1 win over Brisbane Roar in an entertaining contest at Leichhardt Oval.
Sarina Bolden’s sixth goal in seven games opened the scoring for the Jets, minutes after Brisbane went down to 10 players following a controversial red card to defender Holly McQueen.
Roar responded immediately from the kick-off through Mia Corbin – who also scored her sixth goal of the campaign – but an unfortunate own-goal from Tameka Yallop handed the Jets all three points on Saturday night.
Newcastle’s third victory in five games takes the Jets level with third-placed Western United on the ladder, with only goal difference separating the two sides, and despite both Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers capable of leaping them on the ladder with wins tomorrow, the Jets will still sit inside the top six at the end of Unite Round.
Meanwhile, Brisbane were unable to build off the momentum generated from their first win since Round 2 last week, as they fall to 10th on the ladder, albeit sitting just three points outside the top six.
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Brisbane started very strongly and had a quick succession of chances, starting first with Sharn Freier, whose cross was intercepted by Izzy Nino after getting in behind the Jets defence, before a long range strike from Leah Scarpelli just fizzed wide.
Their best chance in the early going came after some great interplay between Mia Corbin and Kijah Stephenson, which allowed the latter to get forward and force a great save from Nino after her long range effort.
Newcastle did well to weather the storm and fashioned a chance out of nowhere through Mindy Barbieri, who came inches away from opening the scoring after her thunderous effort from outside the box rocketed off the crossbar.
Shortly after, Cassidy Davis, who set up Barbieri for her chance, had a chance of her own among a sea of defenders but could only poke her effort straight at Roar keeper Jordan Silkowitz.
After surviving the Jets’ flurry, Roar defender Jenna McCormick came up from the back and smashed a long range effort towards goal which was denied by Nino on the brink of half-time.
The Jets started the second-half strongly, with a couple of chances falling to Lauren Allan and Natasha Prior, but nothing to really test Silkowitz. Back the other way, Nino continued her inspired form, this time denying Yallop from point blank range after the Matilda was teed up perfectly by Freier.
As the game reached the hour mark, Brisbane were suddenly down to 10 players. McQueen was dispossessed by Lorena Baumann in the middle of the park, and fouled her as she looked to break forward.
Despite not being the last defender, referee Isabella Libri sent the Roar defender off and minutes later, the Jets were ahead on the scoreboard.
A sensational bit of interplay on the edge of the penalty area found Davis, who backheeled it to Bolden and the Philippines international made no mistake to give Newcastle the lead.
However, Brisbane responded immediately after kick-off, attacking straight from the restart as Deborah-Anne De La Harpe’s pass found Yallop inside the box, and after the Matilda found some space, she played Corbin, who took a few touches and blasted it past Nino.
Newcastle, who gave up their lead within seconds, looked to put the disappointment of the equaliser behind them and almost regained the lead immediately, when Barbieri’s free kick was punched into the air by Silkowitz and onto the head of Davis, but the Jets captain’s header towards an unguarded goal was nodded clear by McCormick.
Barbieri’s dangerous set pieces would eventually pay off in the 77th minute, as her corner was nodded into the back of the net by Yallop at the front post.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, Brisbane kept on coming and Bonnie Davies almost had an immediate impact off the bench.
The substitute got in behind the Jets defence, and had her cross intercepted by Nino, but the rebound fell back to Davies who slammed her effort straight at the American keeper again.
The talking point
Saturday night’s contest turned on its head after a controversial red card to Holly McQueen.
With the scores still 0-0, Roar went down to 10 players in the 60th minute after McQueen fouled Lorena Baumann after the Jets defender pickpocketed the former and looked to burst forward between the halfway line and the edge of the 18-yard-box.
As Baumann started to race ahead, McQueen brought her to ground and referee Isabella Libri opted to send off the defender, despite not being the last player between her and the goal – as Jenna McCormick was in an area to potentially get across and cover.
While the decision drew the ire of McQueen’s teammates, Jets attacker Sarina Bolden didn’t hide her excitement around the sending off.
The stars
Sarina Bolden and Mia Corbin just can’t stop scoring at the moment.
The Philippines international has been on fire since arriving at Newcastle Jets, taking her tally to six goals in seven games with a classy finish in the 2-1 win over Brisbane.
Bolden now has goals in her last three games, and incredibly in each of the five matches she’s scored in, the Jets have either won or drawn.
Incredibly, this sort of form isn’t even coming with the Jets at their final form in attack, with Melina Ayres still working her way back from an injury interrupted start to the season, to compliment the likes of Bolden, Lara Gooch, Mindy Barbieri and Lauren Allan.
Meanwhile, Corbin’s brilliant season at Brisbane continued as she took her tally to six goals for the campaign, with a sensational long range strike to bring the scores level in the second-half only seconds after Bolden’s goal.
The American has flown under the radar this season, but has quietly put together a fine run of form, which has taken her into equal fourth with the likes of Bolden, Perth Glory’s Millie Farrow, Melbourne Victory’s Rachel Lowe and injured Melbourne City star Holly McNamara in the Golden Boot race.
Despite much of the focus – and rightly so – on the likes of Vesna Milivojevic, Michelle Heyman and Sophie Harding in the Golden Boot race, these two are keeping them on their toes with their rich vein of form and will certainly be players to watch in the second-half of the season.
What this means
Newcastle have quietly crept up the ladder in recent weeks and are suddenly in fourth place, only goal difference behind Western United.
Gary van Egmond has done a brilliant job at steering the Jets in the right direction in recent weeks, as they continue to find a way to get results even after his daughter and Matildas star Emily, departed the club following her four game guest stint.
The Jets could fall down to sixth on the ladder depending on Sunday’s results, but they are still in a good spot among a logjam of teams battling for a finals berth this season.
Up next is a return to Leichhardt Oval on Sunday afternoon on January 21, with a huge clash looming against reigning champions Sydney FC.
Meanwhile, Brisbane missed the chance to climb into the top six and drop to 10th on the ladder.
Alex Smith can take plenty of positives out of the match, with the second-half red card not deterring their spirit as they continued to pose a threat.
Next is a trip west to face second-placed Perth Glory on Saturday, January 20 at Macedonia Park.
