Newcastle Jets have managed to pull themselves off the bottom of the A-League table with a 3-1 win over second-placed Adelaide United. The Jets returned to form with a superb performance at EnergyAustralia Stadium, scoring twice early though Nikolai Topor-Stanley and Marko Jesic before the latter grabbed a second early in the second term.
Iain Fyfe gave the Reds some hope with a late header but it was not enough to deny Newcastle's first win in five matches whilst consigning the Reds to their third defeat in their past four outings.
A-League Week 14Newcastle Jets: 3 (Nikolai Topor-Stanley 4', Marko Jesic 13', 52') Adelaide United: 1 (Iain Fyfe 79')
Venue: EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle Crowd: 8,278 Referee: Kurt Ams Yellow cards:NJ - Ali Abbas 5', Ljubo Milicevic 29', Marko Jesic 52' AU - Paul Reid 50', Travis Dodd 84'
GOAL Things got off to an ideal start for the Jets when centre-half Nikolai Topor-Stanley headed home from 10 yards out his first A-League goal in 89 games in the 4th minute from a corner.
GOAL And it was even better for the home side when Marko Jesic added a second eight minutes later when he lashed home with his left foot from close range after Topor-Stanley teed up the ball with his chest from a lofted Kasey Wehrman.
Ali Abbas should have made it 3-0 in the 35th minute when his header from a Tarek Elrich cross missed the target when he really should have done better.
The Jets were playing with newfound confidence and went close again just minutes later when debutant Francis Jeffers was played in on goal but his attempted chip was thwarted by an advancing Eugene Galekovic to keep the Reds in with a chance.
GOAL Just over five minutes into the second term, the Jets did get a third when Ben Kantarovski produced some solid work in midfield before releasing Jeffers who provided an inch-perfect ball for Jesic who finished neatly past Galekovic to essentially wrap up the contest.
Substitute Labinot Haliti drew a top-shelf saved out of Galekovic in the 64th minute as the home side chased a fourth but their want for another goal threw Adelaide a lifeline when they managed to get one back with just over ten minutes remaining. GOAL Reds defender Iain Fyfe got on the end of a Cassio free-kick and glanced a header home past Ben Kennedy for his fourth of the season but it wasn't enough as the Jets ran out 3-1 victors.
Starting Line-Ups
NJ Ben Kennedy (gk), Adam D'Apuzzo, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Ljubo Milicevic, Ben Kantarovski, Kasey Wehrman, Ruben Zadkovich, Tarek Elrich, Marko Jesic (Petrovski 90'), Ali Abbas (Patafta 85'), Francis Jeffers (Haliti 61')
Subs - Matthew Nash (gk), Labinot Haliti (61'), Kaz Patafta (85'), Sasho Petrovski (90')
AUEugene Galekovic (gk), Robert Cornthwaite, Cassio, Iain Fyfe, Lucas Pantelis (Ramsay 60'), Adam Hughes (Watson 71'), Sergio van Dijk, Marcos Flores, Paul Reid, Fabian Barbiero (Dodd 46'), Joe Keenan
Subs - Mark Birighitti (gk), Travis Dodd (46'), Iain Ramsay (60'), Cameron Watson (71')
