Brisbane Roar 1-2 Newcastle Jets
By Callum Logie (13/01/24).
Above: Brisbane Roar’s Mia Corbin dribbling the ball against the Newcastle Jets Photo: Brisbane Roar
Two teams fighting hard to rise up the table clashed in Unite Round as the Brisbane Roar took on the Newcastle Jets at Leichardt Oval. Tameka Yallop celebrated her 150th appearance in the Liberty A-Leagues in this match.
The Brisbane Roar came off a hard fought 2-1 victory over the Phoenix and hoping for more heroics from their attacking players in Tameka Yallop, Kijah Stephenson and Mia Corbin. The Newcastle Jets came into the match off of a thrilling 3-3 draw with Canberra United and were looking to make a late push up into finals contention with a positive result here.
Brisbane’s starting XI was unchanged from their victory over Wellington in this fixture while the Jets made a couple of changes. The formation moved to a traditional 4-4-2 with Natasha Prior getting the start at centre back alongside Zoe Karapidis with Claudia Cicco and Sophie Hoban slotted in as the fullbacks.
Brisbane Roar started strong, dominating possession in the first 15 minutes and peppering the goal with a number of shots. Leah Scarpelli put a chance wide after a rare venture forward in the first ten minutes and Kijah Stephenson tested Isobel Nino at around 1t minutes with a low driven effort on goal.
After dominating the early proceedings, the Roar dropped back a touch and almost conceded with Mindy Barbieri striking the crossbar from range against the run of play. This brought the Jets right back into contention as they played with better possession and created some more chances.
Corbin put a snapshot wide from just inside the box a moment later and then on the other end, Cassidy Davis forced a good save from Jordan Silkowitz. Corbin created a half chance through pressing Isobel Nino in the Jets goal but the keeper recovered well to collect the ball in what was a very entertaining yet scoreless half.
The second half began with a lot more of the Jets going forward, winning several corners and looking to use their physicality to unsettle Silcowitz in goal. There were many tough tackles in midfield and a lot of added time was tacked on to the end due to the amount of injury concerns during the half.
The game picked up a dramatic gear at the hour mark, with the Jets winning the ball in an advanced position and passing forward to Lorena Baumann who was looking to break away. While it appeared that there were defenders between Baumann and the goal, Holly McQueen took down the breaking Baumann which lead to Isabella Libri brandishing a red card to the Roar defender.
After celebrating the sending off as if it was a goal, Sarina Bolden was able to open the scoring on the 63rd as a very clever flick on from Davis at the edge of the box released the forward who put away her sixth goal in seven games.
The lead was however only a brief one as Tameka Yallop broke forward up the right wing two minutes later before squaring the ball across to Mia Corbin who hit the top corner with her effort for the equaliser. Despite being down to 10 players, Brisbane remained competitive and continued to create chances.
On the 77th minute, Yallop was once again involved but not in the way she would’ve wanted to have an impact. Mindy Barbieri attempted an Olimpico corner which deflected off the head of Yallop and gave the Jets back the lead. While Barbieri celebrated, it was considered a Yallop own goal.
The Roar pushed continuing to try and find an equaliser despite the disadvantage. 6 minutes of added time proved to be just not enough as the Jets hung on for an important win.
Roar fans will feel hard done by with the result hear as they dominated the first half and showed great chance creation with Yallop and Stephenson often breaking forward. However, credit should be given to the Jets defence and Isobel Nino. Nino made a number of important saves and the right side of the defence of Cicco and Prior proved to contain Stephenson well, particularly in the second half.
Going forward, the Jets did look a potent package, particularly with the creativity of Barbieri and Davis creating several chances. If the Jets are to continue being successful in their endeavour to climb the table, they will need to look to create opportunities for Sarina Bolden, and these two players may be the perfect catalyst for doing so alongside Baumann.
Teams: BRISBANE ROAR (3-4-1-2): Silkowitz, Scarpelli, McCormick, McQueen, Freier, Palmer, Norrie, De La Harpe, Yallop, Stephenson, Corbin. Substitutes: Richards, Levin, Thompson, Davies, Hecher
Scorers: Corbin 65′.
NEWCASTLE JETS (4-4-2): Nino, Hoban, Karipidis, Prior, Cicco, Baumann, Davis, Copus-Brown, Allan, Barbieri, Bolden. Substitutes: Rochaix, Dundas, Gooch, Ayres, Wilson
Scorers: Bolden 63′, Yallop (og) 77′.
Referee: Isabella Libri
Attendance: TBC
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