Adelaide United’s National Youth League team has returned to the winners’ circle and kept its top-two aspirations alive with a convincing 5-0 victory over the Newcastle Jets at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday.
It was a David and Goliath battle with the Reds playing Paul Agostino, Jonas Salley, Ang Costanzo and Jason Spagnuolo, and understandably proved too strong for an inexperienced Jets line-up.
The Reds controlled the game from the opening whistle and opened up a 3-0 half time lead. They then inflicted more pain in the second half by adding their fourth in the 56th minute and a fluky fifth 14 minutes from time.
Spagnuolo and Michael De Bono scored two goals each while a fortunate Francesco Monterosso joined the procession.
Adelaide has joined second-placed Queensland Roar on 21 competition points but the Roar can edge in front again when they play Central Coast on Saturday.
United-s first goal came in the eighth minute with De Bono swooping on a ball which rebounded off the right hand goal post.
The Reds- second came in the 29th minute and was scored by Spagnuolo. The former club champion did well to control a bouncing ball in the box and convert on his left.
Two minutes later De Bono kicked added to his tally in what was almost a carbon copy of his first goal. He was in space when a Spagnuolo shot rebounded off the right post and gave him another play to put on his highlights reel.
The Reds deserved their three-goal first half with the home side dominating possession. They knocked the ball around the midfield, were precise with their passes and were rarely put under pressure by the opposition.
On the rare occasions Adelaide turned the ball over, Newcastle was dangerous on the rebound.
Midway through the first half James Virgili streamed through the midfield and burned off his Reds opponents. He got good purchase on his shot from outside the box but his strike went straight to goalkeeper Cody Larkin.
Adrian Karakolevski also took some pot shots but without accuracy.
It was more of the same in the second half but there was a definite lift in intensity and effort by the young Jets outfit.
Their efforts were unrewarded however with Spagnuolo bobbing up for his second goal. Substitute Joseph Costa delivered a low cross to the senior player who made no mistake from close range.
Adelaide then received a lucky break with a powerful Michael Doyle strike deflecting off Francesco Monterosso and into the back of the net.
Virgili produced a second-half shot on goal while Ben Martin should-ve done better with his attempt in injury time but they were rare highlights for the bottom side.
Adelaide United coach Joe Mullen said the Reds had some lapses in play in both halves but was pleased his players were able to stay on top for the majority of the game.
“We held our shape well, we transitioned from defence to attack fairly quickly which is what we were after today and that was the most pleasing thing,” he said.
Match Details
Adelaide United 5 (Michael De Bono 8-/30-, Jason Spagnuolo 29-/55-, Francesco Monterosso 76-)
Newcastle Jets 0
Friday 9 January 2008
Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
Referee: Elvis Mustafic
Assistant Referees: Curtis Wordsworth & Mark Michael
Fourth Official: Christian Verdicchio
Adelaide United line-up: 30.Cody LARKIN (gk) (40.Lucas OSTBYE (gk)), 3.Scott WEIDENBACH (2.Michael DOYLE 58-), 4.Michael MARRONE, 5.Shane TOBIAS, 6.Alexander SUNASKY, 10.Osama MALIK,13.Paul AGOSTINO (OA) (15.Francesco MONTEROSSO 58-), 16.Michael DE BONO (11.Joseph COSTA 53-), 17.Jonas SALLEY (OA), 21.Jason SPAGNUOLO (OA), 22.Angelo COSTANZO (OA).
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Newcastle Jets line-up: 1.Ben McNAMARA (gk) (30.Jordan GRIFFITHS (gk) 59-), 2. Simon MOONEY (12.Matthew COMERFORD 54-), 3.Joel WITHERDIN (13.Patrick WHEELER 55-), 4.Jon GRIFFITHS, 5. Jacob PEPPER, 6.Taylor REGAN (c), 7.Fabian IACOVELLI (15.Harry MAGUIRE, 8.Matt HARPER, 9.Ben MARTIN, 10.Adrian KARAKOLEVSKI, 11.James VIRGILI.
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
