The Newcastle Jets have taken a major step in reaching their first grand final as the Griffiths brothers both scored vital goals in a 2-0 win in front of a capacity crowd in Newcastle, which saw several thousand Mariners supporters make the trip up the F3 highway, making this a true derby game.
There are many talking points but perhaps the most obvious is that the Jets scored from their penalty, the Mariners missed theirs and in a game of such small margins this was a big telling point. (Ed. shaded somewhat by the goal dissallowed by AR Jason Power!)
The Jets had Musialik starting the game and Adam Griffiths returning from suspension as did Petrovski for the Mariners.
The Jets showed their intentions early Hearfield fired a shot that has Vukovic saving on 20 seconds of play. The CCM response and Pondeljak is almost through but North intercepts.
On 9 minutes Boogaard fouls J.Griffiths who takes the fee kick but his 25 meter effort is saved by Vukovic.
The Mariners almost take the lead on 14 minutes Kwasnik finds Petrovski with a brilliant cross his lopping header is goal bound, it beats Covic but North runs back to clear of the line with a brilliant defensive header.
The Mariners win three successive corners and Hutchinson finds Wilkinson whose near post header is wide.
The Jets respond and against the run of play Thomson finds Holland whose cross is met brilliantly by a Adam Griffiths diving header the ball fly's into the near post back of the net and the home fans go crazy, its 1-0 Jets on 22 minutes.
The CCM very quickly have a chance to level, North who was having a great game raises his foot on Petrovski inside the penalty area, there is contact and Breeze correctly gives a spot kick, Aloisi lines up the kick but unlike against Uruguay he misses, his low shot is wide of the upright and Covic is diving the wrong way.
The Jets quickly break down field and Joel finds his brother Adam who heads just over the cross bar.
On 39 minutes a Pondeljak corner finds Hutchinson in space outside the penalty area his long shot is tipped over the cross bar by Covic. Then Petrovski cleverly finds space on the edge of the area despite having two defenders on him he is able to fire on goal, his effort is just over the cross bar.
Its end to end stuff as Musialik fires from 30 meters it ends up just over the cross bar.
The first half ends in dramatic fashion, Durrante fouls Pondeljak on the edge of the area, Aloisi blast's the free kick past the wall and against the upright, the ball bounces across the face of the goal but not over the line, the ball is then eventually passed to Kwasnik who crosses, the ball finds Aloisi, he fires home with his left foot and runs to celebrate in front of the Mariners fans who stand to celebrate, but the goal is disallowed for offside, sadly replays reveal Aloisi was indeed on side, Aloisi is totally frustrated - how did the officials get this so wrong ?.
The second half commences with a Kwasnik long range effort that is wide. Pondeljak also tries one but Covic saves and its all the Mariners as a Petrovski overhead kick is over the cross bar.
On the hour it's Joel Griffiths who is stopped from shooting, then he is forced wide and his shot easily saved as the Jets break.
On 73 minutes Petrovski is through on goal but rather then shot for goal he elects to pass to Aloisi and the Jets clear.
The turning point (well there were so many) comes in the 83rd minute, Gumprecht finds Simon unmarked in front of goal but he hits it straight at Covic. One minute later and Gumprecht fouls Hoffman in the penalty area, Breeze again gets it right, a spot kick and Joel Griffiths at the same end where Aloisi missed, this time scores, its 2-0 Jets.
It finished 2-0, this should be enough to see the Jets through to the grand final, but the result was harsh on the Mariners who deserved more from the game. The 2nd leg of the Major Semi-final will be played on Sunday 10 February 2008 at Bluetongue Stadium, in Gosford.