Robbie Fowler is adamant Brisbane Roar’s ladder position isn’t a true reflection of his side’s potential and performances so far in the Hyundai A-League 2019/20 Season.
Roar remain in 10th spot on the table after another frustrating night against Newcastle Jets, as the league’s basement battlers played out a 1-1 draw at McDonald Jones Stadium.
While Roar started the stronger of the two sides, they failed to convert their possession into genuine chances and went to the break trailing 1-0 through Dimitri Petratos’ 31st-minute goal.
Fowler’s troops pushed hard for an equaliser after the break and got their reward three minutes from time through a powerful strike from substitute Bradden Inman.
“We’re probably not pleased with the result because I thought we should have won the game,” Fowler said after the match.
“But it’s been typical of our season. We dominate teams…the ladder probably lies a little bit in terms of where we are. We’ve felt we’ve been playing catch up sometimes this season because of the byes.
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“But we’ll keep soldiering on. I’ve no doubt results will turn. We will get plenty of wins this year. It is frustrating but we know we’re almost there. We know we are progressing.
“We look as though we’re a handful. We look as though as we can give all the teams a game. We know we’re close. Of course it’s frustrating, because we want to win the game. But we will win games.”
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In a bid to snap his side out of their goalscoring woes, Fowler handed a debut to 19-year-old attacker Mirza Muratovic.
“The young lad was Mirza was brilliant,” said Fowler, who also dropped leading scorer Roy O’Donovan to the bench.
“His hold-up play was good. He worked his socks off. He more than held his own.”
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Meanwhile, Jets boss Ernie Merrick felt his side was punished for not taking their chances.
Leading 1-0 midway through the second half, youngster Angus Thurgate squandered a one-on-one chance when he shot straight at keeper Jamie Young.
The Roar gloveman then produced a stunning stop to keep out Ben Kantarovski’s header in the dying minutes.
“To bounce back from previous two games, I thought the boys did really well,” Merrick said.
“The first 15 minutes we had to settle down, after that I felt they hardly created a chance and we had so many. The bottom line was it came down to two terrific saves from two very good chances.
“Gus one on one with Jamie Young, Jamie Young pulled off a save, and the header from Kantarovski, he pulled off another save. That’s the difference – You have to score those.
“But I was very impressed by the boys. I thought it was a good all-round performance.”
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