It’s unlikely to make Newcastle’s end-of-season highlight reel, but Jets coach Gary van Egmond is hopeful his side’s 1-0 away win over the Queensland Roar will be the tonic to help kick start their A-League title defence.
The Roar controlled the tempo for the duration of the match before Joel Griffiths ensured all the points would be heading south with his 83rd minute goal.
Van Egmond admitted after the match that a draw was probably a more ‘right result’, but he didn’t particularly mind as his side claimed their maiden win for the 2008/09 season.
“It was a real arm wrestle, it was decided late on, it was good that it came from a set piece because that is something which we have been practicing,” van Egmond said.
The Jets have had a slow start to the season and were sitting outside the top four with just three points before the match on Friday night, but van Egmond has been encouraged by his team’s efforts over the last two weeks.
“Last week obviously was a bit of a turning point in regards to the fact that we didn’t get scored against,” he said.
“This week again we haven’t been scored against and we’ve come out with a win away from home.”
“The confidence and the belief is starting to build within the team and with that, we’ll start to play hopefully a little bit more attractive football in certain areas, but right at this moment, if we have to grind a win out, that’s what we’ll do.”
With national coach Pim Verbeek in the crowd at Suncorp Stadium, the pressure was on Socceroos squad members Jade North and Ante Covic to produce and van Egmond said they both came up trumps.
Covic kept Newcastle in the game early on as he faced a barrage of shots on goal, with an excellent one-handed diving save in the 21st minute particularly remarkable.
“He just looked really big in the goal, it was just one of those days where he looked really big,” van Egmond said.
“It was a difficult situation to try and get past him, he has come back from the Australian team in fine fettle.”
Van Egmond also commended captain North, who held the Jets’ defence together on a number of tense occasions.
“I thought he played extremely well tonight, I thought he was very good, very dominant at the back, he’s only going to get better with more confidence and clean sheets.”
“I thought he did a tremendous job leading the team and overall I was pretty pleased.”
Newcastle will be looking to cement a spot in the top half of the table next week when they take on Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium.
