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24Jan20
Newcastle Denied Deserved Draw By Marinovic
by Jeremy Ruane
Wellington Phoenix goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic earned his side a 2-1 win over a gallant Newcastle Jets combination in front of 8503 fans at Sky Stadium on January 24, two fine saves in stoppage time denying the bottom-placed club what would have been a deserved share of the spoils from this Hyundai A-League clash.
Newcastle were the better side for much of this at times error-ridden encounter, despite starting on the back foot when forced to scramble the ball to safety after Steven Taylor got round the back to get on the end of a Callum McCowatt corner and create fifth minute mayhem in the visitors' goalmouth.
Three minutes later, there were alarm bells at the other end of the park as Marinovic and Luke DeVere got their wires crossed. Newcastle were unable to capitalise on that opening, and when Matt Millar - he was outstanding in the first half - let rip seconds later, Wellington's goalkeeper had recovered his position to tip the wing-back's effort to safety.
Abdiel Arroyo squandered a glorious chance to fire Newcastle in front in the eleventh minute, blazing wildly over the bar after Bobby Burns had split the defence with a sumptuous through ball.
Worse was to come for the visitors, with what looked like a season-ending injury suffered by Lachlan Jackson as his knee gave way beneath him while McCowatt was turning the defender this way and that.
Newcastle shook off this setback and carved out another gilt-edged chance to break the deadlock on the half-hour. Steven Ugarkovic released Millar down the right with a delightfully weighted pass, the recipient drawing the defence before setting up the unmarked Jason Hoffman for what, at first glance, appeared set to be a routine finish.
'Twas anything but, as it turned out. Hoffman was leaning back as he strode onto the ball with just Marinovic to beat, and the goalkeeper was well pleased to see the sphere soar into the stratosphere as Hoffman sent it sailing into orbit from ten yards out … a truly awful miss, one which deserves to be in the frame for "Miss of the Season" honours.
Unperturbed, the visitors pressed again four minutes later. Arroyo released Burns down the left on the overlap, and the fullback whipped a buffet ball right through the heart of the Wellington goalmouth. Unfortunately for Newcastle, no one in a white shirt was dining in the best restaurant in town at that particular moment.
Four minutes before the scheduled half-time break, Newcastle pressed again, with Arroyo and Ugarkovic combining with Millar, who lashed a rising twenty-yarder which careered narrowly past Marinovic's right-hand post.
Arroyo's next attempt to break the deadlock was of the high, wide and far from handsome variety, while after scrambling clear a Gary Hooper cross to thwart a rare Wellington raid, Newcastle finished the half in the ascendancy, Dimitri Petratos working a one-two before delivering a cross which had the beating of Marinovic, but was too good for any of his team-mates to take full advantage of.
The second spell was eight minutes old when Wellington opened the scoring against the run of play. There was nothing wrong with the quality of the goal, however, one made on half-way by a deft one-two twixt Ulises Davila and Hooper.
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The Mexican threaded the ball through for substitute Jaushua Sotirio to race onto, the newcomer making light of his having been on the park for less than two minutes with an accomplished finish beyond former Wellington goalkeeper Lewis Italiano - 1-0.
Despite the goal, Wellington continued to disappoint - they really were out of sorts for long periods in this game - and handed Newcastle a 66th minute equaliser. Brandon Wilson - not a debut to write home about! - gifted possession to Hoffman, who saw his shot blocked by Marinovic.
The home team cleaned up the rebound, but within seconds had presented the ball to Petratos on a plate. His shot was blocked, but Arroyo was first to react to the rebound and thundered the equaliser past the powerless figure of Marinovic, who quite rightly gave his defenders daggers for their feeble efforts to avert the dangers.
Newcastle were still celebrating getting back on level terms when Wellington regained the lead three minutes later. Liberato Cacace led the charge before looking to link up with David Ball.
Millar intervened, but only cleared the sphere as far as Alex Rufer, who had entered the fray as a substitute two minutes prior. His twenty-five yarder was blocked by a defender but ricocheted into the stride of Davila, who gleefully steered the ball home via the inside of the far post from eight yards to restore Wellington's lead, 2-1.
Ben Kantarovski's bid to level the scores two minutes later was only narrowly astray, and again arose from a mis-directed pass - the game was riddled with them! Back came Wellington, Davila working a one-two with Cacace before picking out Ball, who evaded a challenge before letting fly, a shot which Lewis Italiano was right behind.
Straight away, Newcastle counter-attacked, forcing a corner which Petratos delivered towards the far post. Rising to meet it was Nigel Boogaard, whose thumping eight yard header was brilliantly pawed out by Marinovic, the first of three saves he would make in the last thirteen minutes of play to keep Wellington's noses in front.
After DeVere had diverted an Arroyo effort over his own crossbar, and Marinovic had smothered a tame shot from the Panamanian after he was set up by Kaine Sheppard, Wellington's goalkeeper saved his side's bacon with two stunning saves in stoppage time.
The first saw him arch backwards to tip over a dipping long-range effort from substitute Angus Thurgate, and from the resulting corner, Marinovic somehow denied Sheppard at point blank range, saving with his legs as the visitors piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser which, thanks to Marinovic, never materialised, fourth-placed Wellington holding on for a scarcely deserved 2-1 win.
Wellington: Marinovic; Payne, Taylor (booked, 73), DeVere, Cacace; Ball, Devlin, Wilson (Rufer, 67), McCowatt (Sotirio, 51); Davila, Hooper (Hudson-Wihongi, 85)
Newcastle: Italiano; Jackson (Koutroubis, 25), Boogaard, Topor-Stanley; Millar (booked, 61) (Sheppard, 72), Ugarkovic, Kantarovski (Thurgate, 81), Burns; Petratos, Arroyo, Hoffman
Referee: Ben Abraham
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