Melbourne Victory 2-1 Newcastle Jets
by Callum Logie (7/2/26)
Above: Emma Dundas and Sofia Sakalis (5) battle for possession. Photo:Newcastle Jets
John McEwan Reserve in Shepparton hosted a Saturday night mid-table clash between two teams looking to leap into finals contention. Victory got back to winning ways after a close contest in windy regional Victoria.
Coming off of an away defeat to Canberra United, Melbourne Victory made a few tweaks to their line-up with Chelsea Blissett getting a start at centre-back in a 5-3-2 formation. Rosie Curtis moved to right wing back with Sofia Sakalis dropping into the left wing back position. Rachel Lowe and Holly Furphy dropped to the bench in favour of Rhianna Pollicina and Ella O’Grady.
On the Newcastle side of things, the Jets came in off a thorough home defeat to Wellington Phoenix. Josie Wilson dropped to the bench with Emma Bates taking her spot at centre-back. Charlotte Lancaster returned to the line-up with Libby Copus-Brown dropping to the bench and Alexis Collins got a start up front.
Melbourne Victory started off playing a deep defensive line, looking to mitigate the pace of the Newcastle forwards. Josie Allan in particular was busy in the opening moments, winning possession high up the pitch on a few occasions to put pressure on the Victory defence.
Courtney Newbon denied an early opener with Alexis Collins driving a shot from just behind the penalty spot to the keeper’s left. Newbon got down to make the initial save and Melbourne were able to clear. The passing of the Jets was sharp early on, as was the pace. Newcastle peppered Newbon’s goal throughout the first 10 minutes.
Allan would routinely test Curtis on the dribble and almost capitalised after a curled shot at 13 minutes forced Newbon’s best save of the day. Despite controlling the possession, Victory were not able to create any meaningful chances, mostly passing between defence, midfield, and Newbon herself.
Melina Ayres and Allan elected to switch sides they were attacking from around halfway through the first half, hoping that the pace of Allan could test Blissett on the right side and the experience and awareness of Ayres on the left would allow for more opportunities to be created.
After over 30 minutes of play, Melbourne finally had a period of play in their attacking third. While chances were scarce to come by, Taylor Ray did get a shot on goal during the more positive period.
At half time, Newcastle would likely feel unlucky to not take the lead while they were on top and allowed Melbourne to start putting together some attacks of their own, Kennedy White getting a few good looks at goal.
The second half started off rather even, with both Victory and Newcastle moving forward with urgency in order to break the deadlock. Melbourne held the territory advantage in the first few minutes of the first half, Sofia Sakalis hitting the crossbar after a long range effort in the 52nd minute.
17 year-old Georgia Ritchie was being tested a lot more in the second half, the Victory forwards firing away from distance. A Pollicina strike forced a good save out of the teenager in the 58th minute of the match.
It was a very physical battle, with six yellow cards brandished between the team in the first 62 minutes, five of which went to Melbourne Victory players.
In the 64th minute, Victory finally broke the deadlock off of a set piece. A bouncing ball was looped in by Alana Jancevski and what initially looked like an olimpico was credited as a Claudia Cicco own goal.
Newcastle looked to push for the equaliser with their energy and pace. In the 73rd minute Allan went down in the penalty area after contact from Curtis and Claudia Bunge. Newcastle were awarded a penalty and Kelli Brown converted clinically from the spot, tying it up for the Jets.
Off the bench, Jancevski and Saveska were lively, creating several opportunities in the late stages for Victory. In the 82nd minute, a spectacular Holly Furphy strike curled from inside the right edge of the box restored the lead for Melbourne who played a really strong second half.
The win puts Victory into finals contention at sixth place but with a game in hand, the Central Coast Mariners will be looking to restore their position in the table when they play next round.
Teams: MELBOURNE VICTORY (5-3-2): Newbon, Sakalis, Blissett, Morrison, Bunge, Curtis, Pollicina, Ray, Lowe, White, O’Grady. Substitutes: Furphy, Jancevski, Pickett, Saveska, Teninson Maher, Woodward.
Scorers: Cicco (og) 64′, Furphy 82′.
NEWCASTLE JETS (3-4-3): Ritchie, Bates, Prior, Cicco, Lancaster, Dundas, Hoban, Brown, J.Allan, Ayres. Substitutes: L.Allan, Boertje, Breier, Copus-Brown, Marie Johnson, Wilson.
Scorers: Brown 74′.
Referee: Georgia Ghiradello
Attendance: TBC.
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