Newcastle Jets 10 Blacktown City 0
A youthful Blacktown City Under 20s team waded into battle at a damp Adamstown Oval in central Newcastle against a physically stronger Newcastle Jets reserve grade team and were made to work hard for the whole 90 minutes in a thumping defeat. A goal in the first twenty seconds from Concetta Caristo set the scene for this early morning kick-off, and by half-time the score had blown out already to 6-0, with Tanya Bunter bagging an impressive hat-trick to go with strikes from Latifa Tee and Kailyn Crabbe. The Jets had been ruthless, but found the second half playing into the wind more of a challenge as City battled well, and it took a six-player substitution to bring them back to goalscoring ways, Caristo completing a hat-trick, Tee hitting her second, before Caristo brought the scores into double-figures with a goal that Pelé himself would have been proud of. This was a tough way to end a very challenging pre-season, but with team bonding for the rest of the weekend, this heavy defeat could just have given City the impetus going into next week’s season opener against Nepean.
An uncharacteristically miserable summer morning in Newcastle greeted players and fans, with London-style drizzle welcoming the players out for their warm-ups. With the two teams emerging from the tunnel wearing white, a hasty decision meant that Blacktown City would quickly change into their sparkling new red training shirts, no numbers giving the game an interesting twist.
With Jets shooting with the blustery breeze, the game was seconds old when Lucy Smith raced up the right and crossed for Caristo to expertly head home at the far post. There was no let-up for the stunned City side as Ash McGregor raced away from defender Abby Duggan but could only fire wide across goal with goalkeeper Amy Harkin beaten. When McGregor fed Bunter and Harkin mis-hit the clearance, Bunter shot wide of an empty net, and we could have already seen three goals with barely five minutes on the clock.
The busy Aurelia Smith found an outlet on the right to cross, but there was very little to aim at, and the Jets broke up the field immediately to make it 2-0, a kind deflection falling into the path of Bunter who made no mistake with a sweet low finish. City had no answer to McGregor‘s long balls, and Bunter was clean through again soon after, Harkin making the save with her feet. Caristo fired across goal, Bunter unable to turn the ball in, and Lucy Smith rampaged up the right to cross and again Bunter couldn’t connect to the firmly struck ball.
Lucy Smith wriggled free on the right and her cross shot was well saved by Harkin for a corner. Bunter pounced on the scraps up the right as the ball was cleared and rifled home a low shot to make it 3-0, then she raced up the left to fire in a great shot that Harkin pushed away. Jade Zoe played in Tee, who rode a challenge to shoot low to make it 4-0 and the game was already over as a result. City weren’t playing badly by any means, they just couldn’t maintain possession, and when Aurelia Smith eventually did break up the right onto a ball from Emily Jackson, the ball in from Niamh Nolan was too strong and any chance of getting close to the Jets’ goal was snuffed out.
The battle between City’s Brianna Tinney and the Jets’ Sally Coleman in midfield was entertaining, and following another dangerous free-kick whipped in by Bunter, which was scrambled away, the Jets injected Karla Ranby and Veronica Milsom into the game to add even more firepower. Zoe had the next chance, but Annabelle Gerard was there to make a telling interception.
When Ebony Boadu set off on a run, playing a glorious one-two to find herself in the clear, a goal looked nailed on, but her shot sailed wide of Harkin’s goal. It was Lucia Franulovic’ turn this week to cop a ball square in the chops as the ball deflected off her knee straight into her face, and from that moment, Aurelia Smith raced up the right, but her ball was too firm for the galloping Izzy Saunders. Straight up the other end, Zoe played in Bunter tight on the byline on the left, and she somehow squeezed the ball into the net with a Ned Zelic-style finish, her teammates rushing across to celebrate a freak goal to complete an expert hat-trick.
Within a minute, the Jets had another, Milsom profiting from a disastrous clearance from Harkin to feed Crabbe, who calmly slotted home the sixth goal. The go-to move for the Jets was Bunter wide to Milsom, and City were fortunate that half-time came to stem the flow, and they could retreat from the rain into the tunnel to assess the damage and focus on redemption in the second period.
With the second half five minutes old, it was clear that the wind was a factor. City managed to get some possession and the Jets didn’t look quite the threat that they had in the first half. Saunders beat her player on the right, but couldn’t find a shot as the visitors revelled in the conditions. Lara Green was bundled over for a free kick as City grew into the game. Milsom fed Zoe to bring a great save from Harkin, and the Jets reacted to the change in landscape by substituting half their team to try and wrestle back their stranglehold of the game.
The sparked the home side back into life. Tee‘s shot on goal was deflected away for a corner, and Milsom connected with the resulting set piece but the ball was hacked off line to prevent the score reaching seven. Crabbe blazed over as Jets piled on the pressure, and that pressure eventually told when good work on the right by McGregor saw Lucy Smith slip in Caristo to finish for 7-0.
City’s best moment saw Green sell a cool nutmeg to her defender to advance on goal, but her final ball was just ahead of Saunders. That was momentary respite though as Dee Salmin fed Milsom clean through, Harkin making the save at her near post. The under-employed Jets goalkeeper Nat Tencic was replaced by Linda Marigliano as Jets continued to mix things up, Caristo then fed Milsom but Kath Spooner-Smith was quickly on the scene to clear the danger. Another goal was coming though, and when Salmin raced up the left, she found Caristo in space in front of goal, who took a touch and drilled the ball low under Harkin for 8-0 and a second hat-trick for the home team. Caristo then skied a shot when well placed, and McGregor played in Salmin but her shot was blocked on the line by Courtney Kitching.
A fabulous move, Salmin feeding Crabbe to tee up Tee for a low shot, made the score 9-0, before the goalscoring was completed with a moment of brilliance by Caristo, who touched the ball around the advancing Harkin and ran the other side, reminiscent of a famous Brazilian moment, but on this occasion Caristo went one better and rolled home the shot for 10-0.
City’s fortune on the day was typified in the final throes of the game when Saunders caused panic in the Jets defence, forcing two corners in succession as Blacktown pressed for a consolation goal; before the second corner could be taken, with the City players piling into the penalty area for a ‘last-goal wins’ moment, the whistle blew to bring the one-sided contest to a close. Newcastle Jets had been terrific. Direct, composed and devastating in front of goal, they were a level above Blacktown City. The first-half performance of Bunter was something to behold, and that tenth goal was the icing on the cake. For the visitors, this was the culmination of a most testing pre-season, but the weekend away in Tea Gardens was to bring the squad closer together and this was a pivotal moment heading into the new season next Sunday.
The Jets head to Sydney Olympic to open their Football NSW Women’s season, while Blacktown City host Nepean in League One, looking to benefit from this toughest of pre-seasons to get off to a winning start. Until next week!
Thanks for reading. Please share as much as you can. Big thanks to Matt for the quality photos to rescue the increasingly grainy set of photos from a camera lens that ended up covered in drizzle. You may recognise some of the Jets players’ names if you listen to a particular radio station – the home team’s teamsheet never materialised. Stay tuned for the season opener from Landen Stadium next week and a shout out to Niamh’s grandma, Blacktown City U20’s number one fan!