Newcastle Jets have continued their pre-season preparations in style, with a 5-0 win over NPL Northern NSW premiers Edgeworth Eagles on Saturday afternoon.
It follows the 2-1 defeat to Sydney in a behind-closed-doors friendly last Wednesday afternoon, and a 4-1 win over the Young Socceroos the week before.
Newcastle fielded one of their strongest line-ups possible. Roy O’Donovan, suspended for the opening eight rounds of the Hyundai A-League season, started on the bench as Jason Hoffman was given a run at nine.
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Ben Kantarovski also started on the bench as he continues to recover from a calf niggle, while newest signing Jair Eduardo sat this one out as he builds towards full fitness in time for the beginning of the season.
A great afternoon in Edgeworth as we run out winners in a quality pre-season hitout! #EDGvNEW pic.twitter.com/4vjo693DUV
— NEWCASTLE JETS FC ✈️ (@NewcastleJetsFC) September 22, 2018
New signings Mitch Austin and Matt Ridenton both started the match, while youngsters Angus Thurgate and Pat Langlois got minutes off the bench.
The Jets got off to the best possible start, with two goals from Dimi Petratos inside the opening ten minutes. Ronnie Vargas stretched the lead further in the 33rd minute with a goal from the edge of the area.
Things started just as fast in the second half, with Jason Hoffman getting on the scoresheet in the 47th minute to make the score 4-0.
He grabbed his second in the 61st minute to secure Newcastle a big 5-0 win.
Newcastle’s preparations ahead of the Hyundai A-League 2018/19 season is almost complete. They’ll take on Western Sydney Wanderers at Maitland Sportsground next Saturday, before their season opener away to Wellington Phoenix on October 21.
