Versatile attacker Jason Hoffman admitted Newcastle Jets missed an opportunity to knock off reigning Champions Sydney FC on Wednesday night.
Newcastle pushed the Sky Blues all the way in a thrilling 2-2 draw at Allianz Stadium, with Bobo’s late goal rescuing a point for Graham Arnold’s side.
The Jets twice took the lead – once in either half – but Ernie Merrick’s men couldn’t hold on as a fast-finishing Sydney outfit ensured a 24th consecutive home match without defeat.
“We go into every match believing we can win. We try not to change no matter who the opposition is, the way we want to play,” Hoffman told Fox Sports.
“I think Ernie has us playing a very attacking style of football that hopefully people want to see.
“We had enough chances early in the game especially to win the football match and we didn’t take them.
“As the game wore on, you could see Sydney kept coming and coming and to be honest they probably deserved a point.”
A sensational match. Do the @HarveyNormanAU stats tell the full story? #ALeague pic.twitter.com/2iKPsQvOUl
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) January 3, 2018
Already without star duo Ronny Vargas and Roy O’Donovan to long-term injuries, Newcastle were also missing regulars Nigel Boogaard (concussion), Ben Kantarovski (injured) and Ivan Vujica (suspended) for the clash.
But the impressive Jets took it to the league-leaders with goals to Andrew Nabbout and Joey Champness ensuring Newcastle walked away with a deserved point.
Hoffman paid tribute to the collective resolve within the squad but lamented his side’s inability to make the most of their opportunities in front of goal.
“You can make excuses about the boys that we have out. We’ve lost some fantastic talent out of the team but the boys that have come in they all know the job description,” Hoffman said.
“They all know their role and the way we want to play. There was a lot of belief going into half time that we can come out and still perform.
“I think as the game wore on maybe it creeps in that we didn’t take our chances.
“Sydney threw Matty Simon on. A couple of boys up front all on the pitch at the same time. You could tell they really went for it.
“Like I said, we’ll take a point but we’ll be disappointed we didn’t get three.”
