A week after convincingly quelling fears that they would be the Hyundai A-League's easy-beats in the competition's inaugural season, the New Zealand Knights contrived to help Newcastle Jets undo all that good work at EnergyAustralia Stadium on September 18. With the impish Nick Carle at his will-o'-the-wisp best, the Jets cruised to a 4-0 victory over the Kiwi entry, the biggest scoreline recorded in the fledgling league's history thus far. And while Newcastle were good value for it, much to the delight of the 7495 faithful who attended this affair, they were greatly aided by some at times abysmal defending by the Knights, who effectively gifted the Jets the points before half-an-hour had passed. An enterprising opening stanza saw chances at both ends inside the first seven minutes, with the visitors enjoying the first opportunities to break the deadlock. But Liam Reddy was swiftly off his line to deny Simon Yeo as he looked to latch onto a Zenon Caravella through ball, the goalkeeper then looking on in the sixth minute as a Joshua Rose effort fizzed past the post. Back came Newcastle, with Carle sparking the first opening in the sixth minute. He linked with Stuart Musialik, who worked a neat interchange of passes with Paul Kohler before the last-mentioned's attempted chip of Knights' goalkeeper, Danny Milosevic, was deflected to safety. Seconds later, striker Labinot Haliti - a late call-up due to fellow front-runner Ante Milicic pulling up lame in the pre-match kick-in - found himself without anyone in a white shirt to confront him as he scythed in from the left flank. His finish on this occasion was wasteful, but when his next chance came, in the twelfth minute, he wasn't anywhere near as profligate. He couldn't possibly be, in fact, for this goal came gift-wrapped from Milosevic. Ned Zelic clipped a free-kick forward from the edge of the centre circle, and Matt Thompson met it with a firm header. The goalkeeper, who had been coming forward, suddenly had that "Uh oh" feeling upon being caught out, and stood watching the ball as it drifted over his header and on towards the empty net. Had he made an effort to retreat goalwards, he would have been in a far better position to retrieve the situation once the ball hit the post and rebounded back towards him. But by the time Milosevic had reacted, Haliti, following in like any good striker worth his salt, was on the scene, and he'll never score an easier goal in his life. 1-0 to Newcastle, and after the Knights had had penalty appeals turned down by referee Simon Przydacz, who deemed there was no intent on the part of Jade North when the ball struck his flailing arm as he contested a header with Neil Emblen, the home team took the game by the scruff of the neck and left the Knights to feed on scraps. The advantage was doubled in the 26th minute. Carle whipped in a free-kick which was headed back to him, prompting the playmaker to lob the ball into the penalty area. Milosevic started to come, then understandably stopped, given two defenders were far better placed to cater with the dropping ball. Needless to say, they had stopped, aware that Milosevic had started to come … "Merci beaucoup", said Thompson, who gleefully headed into an untended net from all of fifteen yards to effectively put the game beyond the Knights inside half-an-hour. It should have been 3-0 two minutes later. Thompson's free-kick from the left found Haliti totally unmarked on the edge of the goal area straight in front, but he contrived to head wide. Less than sixty seconds had elapsed when Carle went down in the penalty area under Darren Bazeley's challenge, after he had provided a supporting run for Haliti. As before, so now - the referee wasn't having a bar of any spot-kick claims! Carle, by now, was roaming at will, having completely outwitted the Knights' zonal defensive system with his intelligent off-the-ball movement. He sparked another raid in the 31st minute, which culminated in Milosevic smothering Musiliak's shot, but the 'keeper was beaten all ends up by the same player six minutes later. Needless to say, you-know-who was the architect of the Jets' third goal of the night, spraying the ball wide to reward the fine overlapping run of Richard Johnson, who was policing central midfield in fine style. His first-time cross was a gem, an absolute

nightmare for any goalkeeper, curling away from Milosevic as it arced into the goalmouth just outside the six-yard area. Which meant it was curling into the path of the incoming Musialik, whose run had not been picked up by either of the Knights' central midfield pairing of Ben Collett and Emblen. Musialik deftly headed the ball beyond Milosevic - 3-0. It now became an exercise in damage limitation for the visitors, and they managed to survive until the break. Before it, Thompson volleyed a Carle crossfield ball wide of the mark, Milosevic swatted away a Haliti drive after the striker had turned Emblen brilliantly inside the penalty area, then battered away another shot from Haliti before watching as a Musiliak lob drifted past the post. Prior to the interval, the Knights showed that perhaps there was hope of an improved showing in the second spell. Caravella played the ball forward to Yeo, who hit a thumping shot on the run towards the top far corner of the net from an ever-tightening angle. But the under-employed Reddy produced a fine save to ensure the teams went to the break with Newcastle three goals to the good. An understandably irate John Adshead rang the changes for his team at half-time, with the Knights sporting three substitutes for the second spell. New Zealand internationals Danny Hay and Noah Hickey paid the price for their respective failings - monitoring of the defence and of Carle - while given they were chasing the game, Sean Devine's presence was a must for the visitors, if only for his competitive edge. He certainly added some much-needed zest and zip to their attacks, the highlights of which came early on in the half, when Newcastle were very much on the back foot. Yeo's cross for substitute Xiaobin Zhang was blocked for a corner by Allan Picken, and from Collett's delivery, John Tambouras' drive was blocked by Yeo. Newcastle scrambled this chance out for another corner, which the third substitute, Steve Fitzsimmons, whipped in dangerously, so much so that Reddy had to tip the ball onto the crossbar to prevent the visitors from getting the early goal they sought. Before the hour mark, Devine fired a shot across the face of goal, while Yeo was denied by the offside flag soon afterwards, by which time Newcastle had stirred from their initial second half slumbers. Only a timely tackle from Tambouras thwarted Thompson as he charged into the penalty area upon working a one-two with Guy Bates in the 59th minute, while within seconds, Carle had picked up the pieces and sparked a raid down the right. Haliti's through ball releasing the overlapping Kohler was central to this move, as was the dummy of his cross by Musialik which allowed Carle, ghosting in behind him, to thrash a drive goalwards. Milosevic did well to turn this effort to safety. After Zelic had seen his twenty-yard free-kick clip the crossbar, referee Przydacz couldn't ignore Newcastle's 69th minute penalty claims when, after a delightful interchange of passes with Haliti and Bates, Carle was tripped in the penalty area by Ronnie Bull's clumsy challenge. The playmaker stepped up and sent Milosevic the wrong way from the spot - 4-0. That goal largely killed the game off as a contest, with Newcastle going close once more before the final whistle. Four minutes from time, Thompson powered into the penalty area and let fly on the run. Milosevic parried his effort, but substitute Franco Parisi looked odds-on to add further to the visitors' woes. He hadn't reckoned on Tambouras' determination, however, the Knights' defender's despairing lunge denying what appeared a certain fifth goal. Before the finish, Zhang blazed a shot wide of the mark after cheekily nutmegging North, but the Knights' performance scarcely merited a goal. Their defensive display, however, fully merited the hiding Newcastle handed them, a 4-0 drubbing which lifts the victors to second spot on the table, and leaves the beaten side back on the bottom rung of the ladder, and with their next match, against Perth Glory, just four days away. Newcastle:     Reddy; Kohler, Zelic, Picken, North; Thompson, Johnson (Studman, 73), Musialik, Carle; Haliti (Parisi, 76), Bates (Bridge, 65) NZ Knights:     Milosevic; Bazeley, Tambouras (booked, 68), Hay (Fitzsimmons, 46), Bull (booked, 69); Hickey (Zhang, 46), Collett, Emblen, Caravella; Yeo, Rose (Devine, 46) Referee:     Simon Przydacz