Newcastle Jets coach Gary van Egmond does not believe Friday night’s 0-0 draw with Brisbane will cost his side a place in the finals.
Newcastle Jets coach Gary van Egmond does not believe Friday night’s 0-0 draw with Brisbane will cost his side a place in the finals.
Van Egmond said during the week it was important to win at home against the Roar to solidify Newcastle’s place in the top six and put a gap on the chasing sides.
However the draw sees the Jets only move to equal fifth alongside Sydney FC on 27 points while the Roar and Melbourne Heart are still within striking distance on 25 and 24 points respectively with the rest of the round to play.
“We were at home and maximum points would have put us five points ahead of them and would have put us in a good position for a run into the finals,” van Egmond said after the match.
“But we can take quite a bit out of that with the performance and the opportunities that we created.
“We have lost one in eight recently and that is not to say that we have won a great deal but we have only lost one in eight so we are resolute and pretty hard to break down but we have got another two games at home and three games away.
“I said it ages ago that it will probably come down to last round and I am pretty sure that it occur for those two final spots.”
The Jets started brightly in the match against the Roar with Emile Heskey hitting the post in the sixth minute of the match and Adam Taggart having two clear chances inside the first 15 minutes.
But as strong winds and torrential rain buffeted the stadium the visitors worked their way back into the contest and had the better chances of the first half.
The Jets took the initiative early in the second period but the Roar came back again before the home side finished stronger.
“It was a strange old game,” van Egmond said.
“Probably the weather had something to do with it. The first 15 to 20 minutes I thought we did some really good stuff and we had some good opportunities and then they (Brisbane) came back into the game and they finished the better in the first half.
“Then second half we came out and again did well. They had a small period where they did quite well again and then they fell away and relied more on counter attack and we finished quite well.
“We had some good chances and we had some chances to make chances if that makes sense.
“But it was just the final delivery or the type of run we just couldn’t put two and two together.”
The Jets were kept in the contest in the first half by some fine saves from goalkeeper Mark Birighitti who denied chances to Thomas Broich and Besart Berisha.
“He made some real good saves,” van Egmond said.
“The other thing was the defence not giving up and still trying to put pressure on the person who had the opportunity coming through.
“But he (Birighitti) was fantastic again as he has been all year.”
