Defensive effort thrills van Egmond

Newcastle Jets coach Gary van Egmond praised his team’s ability to resist an in-form Brisbane Roar side on the way to securing a precious 2-0 away victory against the ladder-leaders on Friday night.

Newcastle Jets coach Gary van Egmond praised his team’s ability to resist an in-form Brisbane Roar side on the way to securing a precious 2-0 away victory against the ladder-leaders on Friday night.

The Jets enjoyed just 34 per cent of the possession, but maintained a solid defensive line to successfully repel every Brisbane attack.

A tactical adjustment from van Egmond 20 minutes into the first half enabled the Jets to curtail Brisbane’s early momentum and wrestle control of the game from the hosts.

The surface of the pitch, which was somewhat damaged following recent Taylor Swift and Bon Jovi concerts at Suncorp Stadium, also played into Newcastle’s hands, admitted van Egmond.

“We talked about trying to control the game without the ball,” he said.

“We started off with a 4-4-2, tried to play a diamond initially, and they just kept on getting out to the opposite side, and I just thought it was a matter of time until we were going to get ourselves in trouble there.

“So we switched back to a 4-3-3 and it made it a little bit easier for us to be a bit more compact and have numbers in the middle, with each wide player tucking into the two central midfielders.

“It wasn’t an easy game to try and play through the middle, with so many bodies in there and, of course, the way that the pitch was probably helped us as well, so we sort of tried to play to conditions as much as possible.

“But it was a fantastic effort by the players defensively and opportunist in regards to scoring a couple as well.”

The Newcastle coach had plenty of praise for Bundaberg-born midfielder Josh Brillante, who had a barnstorming game in the middle of the park.

“He’s excellent,” van Egmond said.

“He’s been doing very well this season, we’ve been very happy with him and very happy with his development.

“He’s probably playing a little bit higher than what I would envisage his favourite position to be, you know I see him more as a six or an eight.

“As with all six and eights, they do relish the opportunity of playing a bit further forward, and that is a good part of his development as well.

“But you have those ones who are 20, 19, 21 and have been very good youth players, and now they’ve got to make that transition into senior football.

“And this year he’s a real man, and a few of those other younger ones coming through are of the same mould, and it just augers very well for the future of this club.”