There were pre-season friendly wins for last season’s first and second place teams on Saturday afternoon.
Newcastle flew to a big early lead and went on with it in Maitland, while Sydney found a late winner in a behind-closed-doors encounter.
On Saturday evening, Brisbane got the job done against a Brisbane Premier League Select side.
Here’s the lowdown.
JETS FLY TO BIG WIN
With the Newcastle roster all but finalised, the Jets travelled to Maitland to take on the Western Sydney Wanderers in the former’s final formal hit-out before their October 21 season opener in Wellington.
They pulled off to a fantastic early lead: it was 3-0 Newcastle within 19 minutes, with early goals to Dimi Petratos, Nigel Boogaard and Ronnie Vargas.
There was chance after chance for the Jets as the game wore on, but it took until the 89th minute for Newcastle to add another goal and it was through new signing Kaine Sheppard.
The match finished 4-0 in favour of Newcastle, and was also the first hit-out for Jets import man Jair who played the final 20 minutes.
We run out winners after a strong pre-season performance! #NEWvWSW pic.twitter.com/pyxsxK2Ssl
— NEWCASTLE JETS FC ✈️ (@NewcastleJetsFC) September 29, 2018
It’s a curious result for Western Sydney, who were without two key defensive men in Brendan Hammel and Patrick Ziegler.
They’ll now turn their sights towards next Saturday’s huge FFA Cup Semi Final clash with Sydney FC.
SYDNEY OVERCOME PHOENIX
Wellington continued their tour of the Australian east coast with a behind-closed-doors clash with Sydney FC.
The scores were locked at 1-1 at half-time, with both Adam Le Fondre and Roy Krishna converting penalties in the opening stanza.
A goal from Sydney’s Aaron Calver in the 73rd minute secured a 2-1 win for Sydney.
Sydney’s attention will turn to their FFA Cup Semi Final against the Wanderers next Saturday night, while Wellington will return to New Zealand and prepare for their home start to the league against Newcastle.
BRISBANE GET THE JOB DONE
Brisbane Roar continued their pre-season preparations in style, cruising to a comfortable 3-0 win over a Brisbane Premier League Select XI side on Saturday night.
Goals to Adam Taggart, Tobias Mikkelsen, and Dylan Wenzel-Halls wrapped up all three points for the Roar.
They also introduced their newest signing to the crowd – Spanish midfielder Alex Lopez.
He’ll be working towards full fitness, and hopeful of playing a part in Brisbane’s season opener at Suncorp Stadium where they’ll host the Central Coast Mariners on October 21.
