Newcastle Jets let a two-goal lead slip before defeating Wellington Phoenix 3-2 in the final game of round 1 in the A-League. Newcastle Jets: 3 Wellington Phoenix: 2
Scorers:New - Jason Hoffman 12', 22', Jason Naidovski 84' Wel - Ben Sigmund 26', Chris Greenacre 43'
Venue: EnergyAustralia Stadium
The Phoenix arrived at EnergyAustralia Stadium with an air of confidence after recording a win and a draw from their last two outings at the venue but it began badly for them when Newcastle's Tarek Elrich found a gap in midfield and put the ball out in front of Jason Hoffman.
In his 21st A-League appearance, Hoffman was able to expertly lob the ball over the approaching Phoenix keeper, Mark Paston to open the scoring for the home side in just the 12th minute.
Ten minutes later, the Jets pushed further ahead when Elrich moved down the right side, played Jin-Hyung Son inside the box who turned and whipped a shot into the path of Paston.
The Phoenix keeper could only knock it forward where Hoffman was on hand to complete an easy knock in and grab his second, giving the Jets the perfect start.
And it was raining goals when Wellington got one back in the 26th minute through Ben Sigmund who rose above Jets defenders and nodded home a Leo Bertos free-kick, restoring the visitors' hope.
Wellington's defence left a lot to be desired for much of the first half but it was Jets shot-stopper Ben Kennedy who made the biggest blunder when Chris Greenacre shot from the edge of the area to see the ball trickle under Kennedy and roll in for a 43rd minute equaliser.
The first 15 minutes of the second half was relatively uneventful until Paston was called on to make a great save from a well-hit Elrich shot to keep the Phoenix in the game.
In the 76th minute, Jets central defender Ljubo Milicevic made a searching run before being rewarded by Fabio Vignaroli with a nice pass in midfield.
Milicevic then supplied Hoffman with a dream aerial ball but the young forward couldn't hit the target from close range with his header for his hat-trick, enabling the Phoenix to remain on level terms.
The home side finally got their reward in the 84th minute when skipper Matt Thompson played a long ball in the path of substitute Sean Rooney who cut it back with his left foot to an unmarked Jason Naidovski who put the Jets in front with a glancing header past Paston.
The Phoenix tried hard to get back on level pegging but were unsuccessful and had to put up with leaving Newcastle without a point.
