The Newcastle Jets and Sydney FC have played out an exciting 2-2 draw in their National Youth League fixture at Adamstown Oval on Saturday evening.
Sydney took the lead with a lovely goal from striker Joel Chianese in the 18th minute of the match but Newcastle hit back when Fabian Iacovelli pinched a goal against the run of play 10 minutes before half-time.
Sydney looked the more dangerous team in the second half and deservedly took the lead when Chianese picked up his second goal in the 65th minute.
But Sydney were reduced to 10 men when David Gullo picked up his second bookable offence and Newcastle took advantage to attack and were rewarded when substitute Steven Veleski converted from the penalty spot following a Brendan Gan handball in the 77th minute.
The draw sees Newcastle maintain its unbeaten start to the season while Sydney are still searching for their first win of the campaign.
The match started in cool overcast conditions on a damp pitch and Sydney were dealt an early blow when midfielder Jared Lum was carried from the ground with what looked like a serious knee injury after a slide tackle from Jets striker Gavin Forbes in just the sixth minute of the match.
After a settling period it was the visitors who took control and their pressure paid off in the 18th minute when a play down the left flank saw midfielder Wely Al-Rikaby slide a lovely through ball for Joel Chianese. The speedy striker took the ball into the area before firing a glorious left foot shot into the top far corner of the net to open the scoring.
Sydney FC continued to have the better of play and looked threatening on a number of occasions but it was the Jets who scored the next goal against the run of play in the 35th minute.
Newcastle attacking midfielder Fabian Iacovelli took advantage of some poor communication by the Sydney FC defenders to poach the ball on the edge of the area and slot a nice shot past goalkeeper Dylan Mitchell and into the corner of the net to level the scores.
Iacovelli almost scored a second just a minute later when he was on the end of a cross from the right wing but his header sailed just over the crossbar and despite the Jets holding the momentum they couldn-t press home their advantage and the teams went to the sheds locked at 1-1 at half-time.
Newcastle made a couple of changes at the start of the second half resting Brodie Mooy and Taylor Regan and bringing on David Talevski and Samuel Gallaway but it was Sydney would made all the running.
Blake Powell shot over the bar from the edge of the area in the 50th minute, Brendan Gan headed just wide of the near post while Gullo saw his close-range header saved by Jets goalkeeper Robbie Kolak.
Sydney eventually profited from their pressure when Chianese picked up his second goal in the 65th minute. Gullo sent in a delightful cross from the left wing and Chianese was on hand to slot the ball past Kolak in the goal to give Sydney a deserved 2-1 lead.
The visitors maintained their pressure and were unlucky not to extend their lead with chances going to Al-Rikaby and substitute Peter Simonoski.
The Jets never gave up and toiled hard with skipper Jesse Pinto causing the Sydney defence plenty of problems. It was one of his runs that saw Gullo pick up his second yellow card for a crude tackle on Pinto leaving the sky blues a man short for the final 15 minutes of the match.
From the free-kick the Jets launched an attack that saw substitute Steven Veleski fire a shot through a crowded penalty area which struck the hand of Gan inside the box. Referee Matthew Cropper showed Gan a yellow and pointed to the spot.
Valeski showed no nerves to convert the penalty firing a powerful shot past Mitchell and into the corner of the net to make it 2-2.
The Jets worked the man advantage launching a number of promising raids in the final minutes and Veleski almost grabbed the winner when he was one-on-one with Mitchell on the stroke of full-time but the Sydney custodian pulled off a fantastic smothering save to ensure both sides earned a share of the points.
Newcastle Jets 2
(Iacovelli 35, Veleski 77p)
Sydney FC 2
(Chianese 18, 65)
at Adamstown Oval, Newcastle
