Newcastle Jets 1-1 Western Sydney Wanderers
by Ryan Miller-Woods (5/11/23).
Above: Western Sydney Wanderers in possession at Newcastle Jets today. Photo: Western Sydney Wanderers.
In a match where they dominated the number of chances at goal with 11 shots to one, Western Sydney Wanderers were denied their first win of the A-League Women season by a stoppage-time rocket from Newcastle Jets’ Cass Davis.
In the first 10 minutes, it was an even encounter between both sides and while Western Sydney had the most prominent chances towards goal, it was Newcastle who had substantially more possession with 87.2% at that time.
In the 15th minute, an unfortunate incident occurred between Lorena Baumann and Cushla Rue as they clashed heads going for the ball.
Before the half-hour mark, Wanderers came close once more as Alexia Apostolakis who made a great run with the ball directed a through-ball to Milly Clegg but unfortunately wasn’t able to fully capitalise on the chance due to being on an angle and the shot was blocked by Newcastle’s goalkeeper Isobel Nino. At the break, it remained goalless.
Eight minutes into the second half, Western Sydney had a very good opportunity as Apostolakis combined with Clegg once more with the eventual shot was blocked by Nino.
In the 64th minute, Newcastle fashioned their first shot as Melinda Barbieri’s powerful shot in the box was saved by Khamis.
However, fifteen minutes later, Western Sydney finally broke the deadlock. Amy Harrison’s free-kick found Vicky Bruce in the box whose header nestled into the bottom left corner. Given the number of chances they had created in the match, a deserved goal for the Wanderers.
Yet, despite all their domination of the chances, it was not enough to gain the three points. Two minutes into stoppage time, a mistimed clearance by Western Sydney on the edge of the box saw the ball directly go into the path of Davis who hit a first-time shot that flew straight into the top-left corner.
It was Davis’ recording-breaking 132nd consecutive appearance for Newcastle, breaking the previous record held at the club by Tara Andrews, and there aren’t many better ways to mark the special occasion than with a potential Goal of the Season contender.
Three minutes later, teenage Western Australian star Ischia Brooking made history when she was substituted on for Wanderers, replacing Olivia Price. Brooking became the youngest player to ever feature in the A-League Women at 14 years, 11 months, and 13 days.
Teams: NEWCASTLE JETS (4-3-3): Nino, Baumann, Huynh, Prior, Cicco, Dundas, Davis, L.Allan, Gooch, Barbieri, Copus-Brown. Substitutes: Dunbar, Burrows, Hoban, Karipidis, Hammond.
Scorer: Davis 90+2’.
WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS (4-4-2): S.Khamis, Matos, Bruce, McComasky, Apostolakis, Gordon, Chessari, Price, Rue, Clegg, Morris. Substitutes: Segavcic, Harrison, Harding, Brooking, Caspers.
Scorer: Bruce 79’.
Referee: Caitlin Williams.
Attendance: TBC.
Follow Impetus on social media – we’re @ImpetusFootball on Threads, Instagram, X (Twitter), and Facebook. DON’T MISS our brand new TikTok platform @ImpetusFootball too!
impetusfootball.org 