Jets flying while Sydney go top
The positions at the top of the Hyundai A-League table changed after a dramatic Sunday, which saw Gold Coast United drop its first points of the season, while Sydney now remain the only unbeaten side after a late win against Wellington Phoenix.
It was dubbed the ‘Battle of Father and Son- and it was father Branko Culina who tasted success over son Jason, with Newcastle Jets 1-0 win over Gold Coast.
At the Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney left it till late to finally overcome a stubborn Wellington 2-0. Brendan Gan and John Aloisi grabbed the crucial goals.
At EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle muscled up across the park to keep the competition's most potent side quiet in a bruising battle that was decided by a well taken goal on the counter attack by Jets striker Sean Rooney in the 40th minute.
The win propelled the Jets into a top-three spot while United slipped to second as Sydney FC maintained its unbeaten start to the season with a 2-0 win over Wellington to complete the round.
After an even opening the first chance fell the Jets' way in the 16th minute when Jin Hyung-Song scooted past his man down the left wing and crossed to the near post where Sasho Petrovski forced a good smothering save from United goalkeeper Scott Higgins. Down the other end the potent Gold Coast attack was kept at bay by a well-disciplined Newcastle defence with Shane Smeltz and Joel Porter forced to shoot from outside the penalty area.
The home side grabbed the opening goal five minutes before half-time when they attacked on the counter. Song was put into space by Tarek Elrich and he took the ball deep into United's half before sliding a pass out to Rooney on the left flank. The 22-year-old shimmied around Gold Coast defender Sebastian Van der Brink before unleashing a viscous left shot that beat Higgins at the near post and handed the home team a deserved 1-0 lead at the break.
Vignaroli was a no-show after the break with Angelo Costanzo coming on in defence and Ljubo Milicevic pushing up into the heart of the midfield.
The move seemed to pay dividends for Newcastle with Patafta finding space on the right of the midfield and forcing a couple of good saves from Higgins.
Gold Coast coach Miron Bleiberg injected Brazilian midfielders Milson and Anderson into the game for Steve Pantelidis and Steve Fitzsimmons and the move seemed to give United some impetus with the visitors looking dangerous down the right flank.
Smeltz shot wide from the edge of the area while Porter and Thwaite missed opportunities as the Newcastle defence held on grimly with the visitors having the better of the final 20 minutes.
Newcastle remained dangerous on the counter with Song and Rooney troubling the Gold Coast defence. But a goal was enough to give the Jets a resounding victory.
Meanwhile, Sydney FC had to wait until the last quarter of the match to seal the points with substitute Brendan Gan opening the scoring with 13 minutes remaining and John Aloisi extending the margin four minutes later.
The home side had by far the better of the first half but only rarely troubled debutant goalkeeper Reece Crowther, who was playing in place of Mark Paston.
Mark Bridge had two goal attempts in the opening 10 minutes, firstly directing his header deft header into the arms of Crowther.
The next opening was even closer, which had it gone in would have qualified for one of the more bizarre goals of the season.
Crowther pondered far too long on a back pass allowing Bridge to block the clearance with the ball looping from the edge of the penalty area just wide of the goal.
John Aloisi and Kofi Danning had headed attempts on goal but both were unable to made solid contact with Crowther untroubled.
Wellington, with a solid record of two wins from three starts in Sydney, rarely ventured deep into opposition territory with Paul Ifill's flashed shot across goal their best moment in the opening stanza.
Crowther finally had the opportunity to prove his worth with the 20-year-old making a stunning save from Brendan Gan-s header from close-range with a spectacular tip over the crossbar.
Gan had another opportunity from the ensuing corner but this time headed into the ground and wide.
Sydney was edging closer but much like the match against the Central Coast Mariners last weekend, it seemed to lack cutting-edge in the opponent's penalty area.
The visitors opened the second half brightly with Clint Bolton momentarily looking like he might go from hero to villain following his late heroics against the Mariners eight days earlier.
The veteran shot-stopper spilling Michael Ferrante curling effort from 25 metres, then scrambling the ball away to safety as onrushing attackers looked to pounce.
Substitute Gan who came on in the first half for the injured Terry McFlynn came closest to breaking the deadlock on the hour mark flashing his shot marginally wide of the post.
Gan though finally had the scoreboard ticking over; powering a header from a Karol Kisel corner into the net in a near-repeat of his first half effort though this time Crowther was powerless to intervene.
Aloisi doubled the advantage four minutes after, Alex Brosque placing an inch-perfect cross following a lightening Sydney counterattack.
The result sets up a mouthwatering top-of-the-table clash next Saturday between Sydney FC and Gold Coast at Skilled Stadium.