A wicked deflection off a Matt Thompson free-kick has seen Newcastle Jets become the first team other than the Central Coast Mariners to record a victory in the Hyundai A-League this season, as they downed Wellington Phoenix 1-0 in an entertaining encounter at Westpac Stadium.
The home side, buoyed on by a vocal 11,487-strong crowd, produced a highly enterprising first half effort, beginning in the sixth minute when a wayward Paul Kohler pass was pounced on by Daniel, who was promptly felled by a clumsy Adam Griffiths challenge just outside the penalty area. The defender was booked for his efforts.
While Felice Campos saw his free-kick cannon off the defensive wall - Newcastle scrambled the rebound to safety, the pint-sized Brazilian made the most of his first start of the season, and proved a real handful around the fringes of the visitors penalty area with his tricks, vision and instinctive play.
He certainly spurred Wellington on, and there would have been few who would have argued a case against their deserving to be in front at the interval. But the object of the game is to put balls in nets, and despite plenty of opportunities to do so, neither side fulfilled that objective in the first forty-five minutes.
After Glen Moss had smothered a twenty-yarder from Jason Hoffman, Wellington sprung a counter-attack which saw Richard Johnson and Shane Smeltz combine to put Daniel in on the right. He held off a challenge but shot straight at Ante Covic, who was soon keeping Newcastle in the match.
In the 24th minute, Smeltz and Campos combined to send Johnson charging into the penalty area on the left, from where he chipped the ball across to the completely unmarked figure of Michael Ferrante.
Given the time and space available to him, he should have done better than to lash his shot straight at Covic, but the keeper did well to block the shot. Ferrante raced onto the rebound and fired it across the face of goal, but all wearing black were so stunned by their team-mate s failure to convert a gilt-edged chance that they failed to react to the opportunity.
Within a minute, Wellington were raiding again, this attack ignited by Jeremy Christie. His ball forward saw Smeltz steaming down the right at pace, but with Campos and Daniel arriving in the middle to support him, the striker s cross ended up in between the pair of them, allowing the outstanding Jade North to clear the threat.
Newcastle s captain made a vital challenge to thwart Campos as he danced his way through the defence on the half-hour, and after Moss had pawed away a Thompson effort following some untidy Wellington defending, the home team's keeper made the save of the match in the 34th minute to frustrate the visitors.
Jobe Wheelhouse played the somewhat subdued figure of Joel Griffiths in on the right, from where he whipped a low cross into Hoffman s path. The striker met it as sweet as a nut, but Moss blocked the shot, and gathered it in in spectacular fashion at the second attempt.
Daniel and Thompson both exchanged shots on goal in the dying minutes of the half, but after the break it was Newcastle who made the running, as they made the most of the prevailing Wellington winds.
Denni Rocha dos Santos sent a twenty-five yarder fizzing over the bar in the 48th minute, before playing Tarek Elrich in on the left. He skipped past Christie before crossing from the by-line, but before anyone in a white shirt could pounce, the green-clad figure of Moss held sway.
He launched a counter-attack saw Tony Lochhead - an impressive second half showing - power down the left before picking out the head of Vaughan Coveny, Daniel s replacement having got in between defenders to create the headed chance. Unfortunately for Wellington, he directed his effort straight at Covic.
The left flank was open season for Lochhead and Smeltz in the early stages of the second half, and they exploited it at every opportunity. In the 54th minute, the latter sent the former scampering to the by-line, from where he fired over a teasing cross which lured Covic out of goal.
The big keeper failed to gather it in, which presented Ferrante with another glorious opportunity to open the scoring, this time with an empty net gaping in front of him. But the midfielder s haste made waste, as he snatched at the chance and fired it high, wide and far from handsome - the groans of despair were palpable.
Unperturbed, Smeltz and Lochhead combined again, the overlapping fullback picking out Coveny with his cross. North thwarted his flicked effort, then Steve Eagleton blocked Smeltz s attempt to thrash home the rebound.
After Moss had grabbed a long-range effort from Wheelhouse, Wellington enjoyed further chances to go ahead around the hour mark. Lochhead s left flank forays took him past Eagleton to the by-line once more, from where he sought out Coveny with a deep cross. North headed the ball over his own crossbar, which prompted a string of Campos corners.
The wee Brazilian s first was a one-two with Ferrante which culminated in Campos curling a teasing cross-shot goalwards. It dipped late, and but for Covic's alertness, a rousing chorus of 1-0 to the Phoenix was on the cards.
Instead, another Campos corner was flicked on at the near post by Coveny to the far post, where Karl Dodd was unable to direct his diving header on target. It was Wellington s last opportunity to break the deadlock, for the rain which had been threatening arrived in the 65th minute, and allowed Newcastle to take a stranglehold on proceedings, while rarely threatening Moss goal.
When they did, thirteen minutes from time, it was to prove decisive, albeit extremely harsh on Wellington s goalkeeper, who could do absolutely nothing to stop the wicked deflection which took Thompson s low twenty-five yard free-kick - which the keeper had covered - away from him and into the far corner of the net.
The A-League s 500th goal was a cruel blow for Wellington, who paid the price for failing to take their chances when they presented themselves - Ferrante s failings in front of goal were particularly pertinent in this regard.
A goal to the good, Newcastle looked to kill the game off, combining substitutions with time-consuming bookings to break up any head of steam Wellington might generate as they sought a late equaliser.
They came close - Johnson's dipping volley just cleared the crossbar following a Ferrante free-kick - but in the end, it was not to be, much to the delight of the Newcastle faithful who made the trip across the Tasman to cheer their charges to a win in Wellington.