Western United 1-3 Newcastle Jets
by Callum Logie (17/3/24)
Above: Libby Copus-Brown (second left) celebrates her opening goal with Tash Prior. Photo: Newcastle Jets.
Western United’s first-ever home game at Wyndham Regional Football Facility in Tarneit saw arguably the result of the season recorded by Finals-chasing Newcastle Jets.
Both teams came into this fixture with decisive away losses, Western United doing down to fellow title contenders, Sydney FC, and the Jets falling to Melbourne City. The Jets in particular looking to come away with three points after earning just one in their last two fixtures.
Western United made a few changes, with Alyssa Dall’Oste getting the start in goal and the teenager Avaani Prakash got her first career start in the midfield. Tyla-Jay Vlajnic also rejoined the starting XI. The Jets on the other hand made just one change, Josie Wilson getting the start at the back in place of Zoe Karapidis.
The Jets started the game in possession and quickly signalled their intent to play pressing and physical football when going forward. Western United on the other hand played with a high pace offensively, a long-range effort by Aimee Medwin was saved competently by the stalwart Isobel Nino.
Forward action continued at the early stage of the game with both sides working the ball forward into their respective, opposing boxes. It was the Newcastle Jets that were able to strike first. Sarina Bolden played the ball from the left wing into where there were four Jets waiting. Libby Copus-Brown volleyed the ball home cleanly and the visitors had an early lead.
Medwin was proactive when going forward, playing a mix between right-wing and attacking midfield. At 13 minutes, the industrious all-rounder won the ball high up and took a low-driven shot which was saved well by Nino. A moment later, Nino spilled a cross but follow-up efforts from Jaclyn Sawicki and Prakash were blocked and driven wie respectively.
At the 20-minute mark, Western United were able to get their goal back. A long ball from Stacey Papadopoulos put Medwin in on goal after losing her defender through great strength. The ball was struck powerfully and collided off of Nino’s right hand and ended up over the line, Prakash ran in to ensure the goal which was rewarded to Medwin.
The very next moment, the Jets took their lead back. A shot from outside the box was blocked but fell into a great position for Lauren Allan who curled the ball from outside the box to loop it past Dall’Oste. Both teams were well and truly in it to win it.
Bolden almost extended the lead after Grace Maher gave away possession to Sophie Hoban in an advanced position. Hoban squared it across the goal to Bolden who put her shot wide. The Jets pressure was relentless and Lauren Allan also struck an effort wide after they won the ball in an advanced position again.
Medwin, Hannah Keane, and Keiwa Hieda worked together in the box in the 32nd minute to direct a decent chance at goal. Unfortunately for Western United, the forward’s effort was driven too high and resulted in a goal kick. The game was played at an electric pace for the first half as a moment later, Medwin was released by Keane for another shot which the determined winger directed wide.
Getting Keane involved in the attack was key in the hosts drawing some momentum back in the first half as her excellent hold-up play created a few chances for Hieda, Sawicki, and of course, Medwin. A corner at 35 minutes was nervously punched away by Nino and a goal-front skirmish ultimately resulted in a clearance by the Jets.
It took a while for Western United to get into the game but they looked potent in the final quarter hour of the first half. A lot of the attacking work was done through Medwin who had three shots and several chances created in the first half but Newcastle were more clinical with their chances and dominated the first period of the game.
The Jets started the second half quickly as Mindy Barbieri ran onto the edge of the box and drove a shot wide of Dall-Oste’s goal. The visitors looked to be focused on keeping possession as Western United have a reputation of getting the job done late in games.
The home side roamed forward themselves with Keane looking to create opportunities from other places on the pitch. This created a gap in the forward line but Sawicki looked to take advantage of their space and drove a shot on goal which was not a threat in the end.
A striking pattern to observe in this battle of contrasting styles was the difference in physicality between the two teams. The Jets got a lot more stuck in and played more aggressively out of possession, committing 10 fouls to only one by Western United.
In the 49th minute, Nino had another uncharacteristic spill of possession thanks to great pressure by Keane. Two Western United players tried to run onto the rebound but Newcastle’s defence was able to scramble the ball away and keep a hold of their lead.
Western United piled on the pressure as the second half moved along, Prakash trying to find Keane in the box but the ball was deflected out to Papadopoulos who directed her effort high over the bar. Keane was more proactively creating space by dropping back and drifting to the left wing to try and create opportunities for Medwin and the midfielders.
Keane took a turnaround snapshot from just outside the box but Nino’s alertness allowed her to collect the effort easily. Keane needed to get the shot away quickly as there were always at least two or three Jets players looking to thwart her whenever she got onto the ball in an attacking position.
Just before the hour mark, Kat Smith’s side continued to create chances. Melissa Taranto moved forward and managed to get the ball into the box. The tenacious Prakash managed to get a shot away across goal but it drifted down the byline as she was unable to hit the target. The ball eventually found its way back to Taranto who struck over the bar.
Seemingly one of the only chances of the second half for the Jets, Bolden struck a low effort on goal after the Jets managed to roam forward. The angle was far too tight to pose any trouble for Dall’Oste however and Western United took back possession once again.
Against the run of play, at 66 minutes, Hoban and Mindy Barbieri combined to win a corner. The resulting set piece was sent to the far post by Barbieri which found the head of the goal machine Bolden who converted to extend the Jets’ lead to two.
Soon after the goal, Western United created a chance to pull a goal back as substitute Catherine Zimmerman got a shot away from the edge of the box. Nino was positioned perfectly and was able to collect what was one of the better chances of the second half.
The action quieted down a bit as both sides made a few substitutions. The Jets held better territory but also conceded more space behind the back line for Zimmerman and Keane to try and create opportunities. Vlajnic sent in several dangerous corners from the right side but there was never quite any meaningful connection on any of the crosses.
At 80 minutes, substitute Emma Robers tried a shot from outside the box which was again competently dealt with by Nino. Newcastle broke forward the next moment and Melina Ayres forced a good save out of Dall’Oste on the other end.
Western United will feel hard done by after this result as they had over double the Jets’ entries into the penalty area. The difference was the clinical finishing by Newcastle when they created chances which secured them this extremely important win.
Teams: WESTERN UNITED (4-3-3): Dall’Oste, Vlajnic, Maher, Cerne, Papadopoulos, Taranto, Sawicki, Prakash, Hieda, Keane, Medwin. Substitutes: Larsen, Sardo, Richards, Robers, Zimmerman.
Scorers: Medwin 20′.
NEWCASTLE JETS (3-4-3): Nino, Baumann, Prior, Wilson, Copus-Brown, Davis, Dundas, Hoban, L. Allan, Bolden, Barbieri. Substitutes: Dunbar, Huynh, Ayres, Hammond, J. Allan.
Scorers: Copus-Brown 4′, L. Allan 21′, Bolden 66′.
Referee: Georgia Ghiradello.
Attendance: TBC.
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