Newcastle Jets defender Daniel Georgievski admitted a two-week break between matches contributed to his side’s slow start in Friday’s draw with Western Sydney Wanderers.
The Jets fell behind early to an Oriol Riera penalty before fighting their way back to earn an entertaining 2-2 draw at Spotless Stadium.
Georgievski conceded the Jets weren’t at their best in the first half but praised the side’s character after grabbing a well-deserved point.
“Yeah obviously we had the week off last week and you could see from the start we weren’t 100%,”Georgievski told Fox Sports.
“But we learn from our mistakes and we try to keep going forward.
“We keep to our structure. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. [But] we always go back and we’ve got that strong mentality by Ernie and that’s why we’re second.”
After Dimi Petratos equalised for the Jets just after half-time, Oriol Riera’s second penalty of the night gave the Wanderers a 2-1 advantage with just over 20 minutes remaining.
But in incredible fashion, Newcastle levelled proceedings straight from the kick-off with Andrew Nabbout netting arguably the goal of the season.
Combining neatly with Dimi Petratos, Nabbout surged towards goal before thumping a strike from the top of the box with the outside of his foot into the top corner.
Georgievski hailed the incredible strike but joked that he wasn’t surprised to see Jets’ boss Ernie Merrick’s subdued reaction to the goal.
“I expected that. I would have been quite surprised if he jumped up. I looked to the side and everyone was jumping up and down,” Georgievski said.
“Ernie’s quite surprising. I think if you keep the camera on him he’d have a laugh here and there.
“That’s why we love him and why we play for him week in, week out.”
So… goal of the season?! 😱🔥
🎥: @FOXFOOTBALL #WSWvNEW #ALeague pic.twitter.com/pBNv38793g
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) February 16, 2018
