Newcastle Jets 0-2 Brisbane Roar (23/12/22)
By Ben Carey
Above: Katrina Gorry winds up to take a shot on the Newcastle goal. Photo: KeepUp.
Brisbane Roar made it two wins from two against Newcastle Jets this season after securing a 2-0 victory on a rainy Friday evening at Number Two Sportsground.
The match started out as a midfield skirmish between the two teams, with a couple of half chances from Brisbane Roar’s Katrina Gorry and Sharn Freier. In the 10th minute, Ashlee Brodigan committed a bad foul against Shea Connors and was shown a yellow card. The resulting free-kick made its way up to Freier, then on to Gorry, who bested a Jets defender and scored a wonderful goal from several feet outside the 18-yard box.
Gorry celebrated the goal on the sideline, waving a Mariel Hecher jersey to the crowd to honour the Brisbane Roar midfielder who suffered an ACL injury in last week’s game against Western Sydney Wanderers.
Jets’ best chance of the first half came in the 37th minute after an error by the goal scorer, Gorry. Cassidy Davis hit a very good shot at the top right corner of the goal, but Hensley Hancuff was equal to it.
Right before an already hefty stoppage time of five minutes began, Hancuff came out of her box and made a quality, but very physical, challenge on Murphy Agnew, who fell badly on her back and had to be stretchered off, resulting in an additional seven minutes of stoppage time at the end of the half.
Shortly into the second period, Newcastle had an excellent chance. Brodigan worked extremely hard to beat the Roar defenders and get a pass off to Sarah Griffith, who had seemingly beaten Hancuff at the top, but the shot was a couple of inches too high.
Just before the hour mark, Jessie Rasschaert launched one of her trademark long throws into the box and the Jets were unable to successfully clear it. Gorry, full of energy and intent, found herself with the perfect angle to slot it past the keeper for a second goal of the evening.
Newcastle ramped up their attack in the final 30 minutes of the match. There was a great attempt in the 65th minute by Lauren Allen that forced a diving save from Hancuff. After that, there was a flurry of Jets free kicks and corners that resulted in a number of attempts on goal, predominantly by Griffith and Davis, but none of them were able to find their mark.
In the dying seconds of the match, Griffith hit a magnificent cross to Adriana Konjarski who was waiting inside the six-yard box and had an excellent opportunity to slot in a consolation goal. However, Konjarski was unable to make ideal contact with the ball and Hancuff made an easy save just before the final whistle blew.
Brisbane Roar dominated the first half of the match, and although Newcastle Jets were able to pick up the intensity in the second half it was too little too late to trouble the visitors. The Roar unleashed the weapon of Gorry tonight.
Her incredible performance proved once again why she is an essential part of not only the Roar, but the Matildas. Her energy, intent, and physicality in the midfield are unrivalled. Not only did she score two goals, but she created countless more opportunities.
The Brisbane backline also looked noticeably more composed than in previous rounds. They held a solid structure throughout the match and adapted to every change that came their way (such as right back Tamar Levin being moved to left back and then up to a forward position throughout the match, resulting in a lot of real time adjustments).
This backline’s performance made sure that most attempts were shut down out or significantly weakened before getting to the keeper. Hancuff also put in an excellent shift in goal making five saves to keep her second clean sheet of the season.
Next week Brisbane Roar play Sydney FC again and will be hoping that home advantage will contribute to a more favorable result after being thumped 4-0 last time out. Newcastle Jets were due to face Western United, but with that game postponed, their next scheduled match will be against Adelaide United on New Year’s Eve.
Teams: NEWCASTLE JETS (4-2-3-1): Worth, Allen, Garnier, King, Clough, Johnson, Davis, Allan, Agnew, Brodigan. Substitutes: Coelho, Puxty, Walandouw, Gooch, Konjarksi.
BRISBANE ROAR (4-3-3): Hancuff, Levin, Lind, Thompson, Rankin, Norrie, Gorry, Palmer, Freier, Connors, Crummer. Substitutes: Shuttleworth, Rasschaert, Kruger, McQueen, Robinne.
Scorers: Gorry 10’, 60’.
Referee: Isabella Libri.
Attendance: 987.
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