Adelaide United has recorded its first home victory of the National Youth League season after beating the Newcastle Jets 1-0 at Hindmarsh Stadium on Sunday.
A crude tackle on Liam Wooding, just inside the box, earned Adelaide a penalty in the 41st minute.
Captain Matthew Mullen took the spot kick and beat the left hand of the diving Jets goalkeeper Neil Young.
Newcastle thought it had a 78th-minute equaliser when an Adrian Karakolevski cross was put into the back of the net by Jason Naidovski but he was deemed off side.
The result sees the Reds move into second spot on the NYL ladder while the Jets have slipped to eighth.
Reds coach Joe Mullen said it was a game played in two contrasting halves.
“We probably controlled lots of the first half and had a few good chances. Then the second half, once we made some changes … we lost a little bit of momentum and Newcastle saw that and they came at us and we had to defend very well to keep a clean sheet,” Mullen said.
Both teams had an innocuous first half with many of the players’ crosses missing their targets while others were guilty of ambitious, long-range shots at goal when team-mates were in better positions.
Despite the scrappy play, the Reds’ forays into attack were more menacing than those produced by the Jets.
Young did well to thwart a Wooding attempt in the sixth minute and some close-range kicks from Mullen half an hour in and at 40 minutes.
The Jets’ forward entries weren’t as frequent but the opportunities they did create should’ve given them some hope of an equaliser in the second half.
Fabian Iacovelli managed to evade the Reds’ defenders on a number of occasions but his two attempts in as many minutes midway through the half lacked penetration.
The standard of play lifted after the break with Newcastle making the early running. Damian Brosque had a shot on target, Naidovski was in the thick of the action with a free kick and a close-range attempt which flew above the crossbar.
But United, which struggled to maintain intensity for 90 minutes in its previous two home games, brought some urgency to its game and tried to double its advantage on the rebound.
Joel Allwright volleyed a Francesco Monterosso cross at the 57th minute and at the 63rd while Dane Milovanovic, Fabian Barbiero and Brett Rayner peppered the goals but without luck.
If it wasn’t for the reflex skills of goalkeeper Young and some desperate defensive work in the box the Jets would’ve been out of the contest.
It was a fiercely competitive clash, with Karakolevski and the Reds’ Alex Sunasky limping off the pitch for short periods, but despite their efforts the Jets couldn’t force a draw in the dying minutes.
Adelaide United 1 (M.Mullen 41)
Newcastle Jets 0
@ Hindmarsh Stadium
