Brisbane Roar have secured a 3-0 win over the Newcastle Jets in Round 6 of the Hyundai A-League at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Saturday night.
Roar’s Brazilian duo of Reinaldo and Henrique each etched their names onto the score sheet in the first half, whilst another import, Scotsman Charlie Miller, made sure Brisbane left the Hunter with all three points with the third midway through the second stanza.
Indeed, the match enjoyed a lively opening with both sides crafting opportunities inside the first five minutes.
Just four minutes in, Dutchman Sergio van Dijk was desperately unlucky not to open his side’s account when his angled drive ricocheted off Ben Kennedy’s left post.
Only a minute later the Jets thought they had given themselves an early lead when Jin-Hyung Song did manage to bulge the back of the net, only to be promptly ruled offside.
Frank Farina was forced to play one of his three substitution cards in just the 12th minute of the match when Danny Tiatto succumbed to an injury to the left side of his groin – Josh McCloughan came on has his replacement in the Roar backline.
But this setback failed to deter Brisbane, which was creating holes in Newcastle’s frail-looking backline.
And, on 24 minutes the Roar took the lead.
Newcastle afforded the sharp looking Reinaldo – who was making his first start of the season – too much time in the area, and, with a smart pass across the face of goal, Henrique had the simplest of tasks to tap into from six yards.
Roar wasted no time going in search of a second, and just two minutes later Reinaldo turned from provider into scorer as he finished off a crafty through ball from van Dijk on the second attempt.
Kennedy stood up well to block Reinaldo’s initial strike, however the rebound fell kindly for the Brazilian who made no mistake with the follow-up.
The Jets’ best chance of the opening 45 came courtesy of a Roar mistake on 37 minutes, when a lazy back pass put Jason Hoffman through on goal.
The Newcastle striker had only former Jets custodian Liam Reddy to beat, but instead fired a tame shot straight at the grateful Roar keeper.
Into the second hal,f Jets coach Branko Culina recognised his stale-looking side needed fresh impetus, bringing on Donny de Groot and Labinot Haliti in favour of Jason Hoffman and Kaz Patafta respectively, however this did little to liven his troops.
In the end, the Roar sealed what was a deserved win against an uninspired Newcastle outfit on 70 minutes, with Miller thrashing home a powerful volley.
Henrique, who was one of the best of the night, chipped the ball in for the ex-Glasgow Rangers midfielder, who in turn controlled the ball on his chest before swivelling to rifle past Kennedy in the Newcastle goal.
Newcastle Jets 0
Brisbane Roar 3 (Henrique 24, Reinaldo 26, Miller 70)
Crowd: 6026 @ EnergyAustralia Stadium
