A crowd of 2, 525 on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the Hunter saw a highly entertaining match in which the home side, Newcastle Jets went down 2-1 to Sydney FC.

The Jets had the better of the opening exchanges and the 1st half which saw a controversial penalty awarded in the 16th minute. Megan Oyster was judged to have fouled in the box despite minimal contact. Kyah Simon slotting home to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

The Jets equalised just after half time through what could only be described as a brain explosion between Sydney FC defenders. It was Jen Hoy who capitalised scoring her 2nd goal of the season.

The Jets had barley time to celebrate as only minutes later Polias delivered a corner, resulting in a knockdown that kindly fell for Nicola Bolger. The one time Novocastrian continued her run of good form in the Hunter scoring a spectacular overhead kick to give Sydney the win despite a strong fight from the Jets who were unlucky not to a least nick a draw.

Newcastle Key players:

Katelyn Rowland: Fresh of a plane and straight in the game. Katelyn Rowland showed good temperate and composure in her first game on Australian soil. Came close to saving Kyah Simon’s penalty.

Arin Gilliland: The player of the match, Gilliland was strong for Newcastle in the middle of the park. Her driving runs at defenders, into the box and pin point passes unlocked Sydney’s defence on several occasions.

Jen Hoy: Scored for the 3rd week in a row. The Jets American striker is certainly delivering on her promises and could have had a few more had the bounce of the ball gone her way.

Sydney FC key players

Sham Khamis: Withstood a flurry of Newcastle chances in the first half keeping them in front. Was key to the Sky Blues win. Without her the Jets could have scored more.

Nicola Bolger: The one time Novocastrian popped up in the right place at the right time to score what was the eventual winner for the visitors. Bolger was quickest to react to Kyah Simon’s knockdown in the area when everyone else seemed to watch and time seemly stood still. Showed glimpses of the game that saw her in the frame for Matildas selection.

As a whole Sydney FC are a well drilled football side. With the midfield diamond proving effective.

Going forward

The Jets will see plenty of room for improvement as they were once again undone on a set piece with no one marking Nicola Bolger in the middle of the box.

They have an extra week to work on things as they have a bye before their next fixture, a home match against Melbourne Victory.

Sydney FC make the trip west to take on Perth Glory in round 6.

Match Details

Newcastle Jets 1 (Jen Hoy 47’)

Sydney FC 2 (Kyah Simon 17’ pen, Nicola Bolger 47’)

Sunday 4 December 2016

Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium

Kick-Off: 2:30PM

Referee: Kelly Jones

Newcastle Jets: Katelyn Rowland (gk), Sophie Nenadovic (Elizabeth Copus-Brown 79’), Megan Oyster, Arin Gilliland, Cassidy Davis, Gema Simon (c), Jen Hoy, Jenna Kingsley (Tara Pender 69’), Rhali Dobson (Grace Macintyre 59’), Clare Wheeler, Ashlee Brodigan

Substitutes – Claire Coelho (gk)

Cautions – Grace Macintyre 60’

Sydney FC: Sham Khamis (gk), Teresa Polias (c), Remy Siemsen (Princess Ibini 69’), Liz Ralston, Nicola Bolger (Hannah Bacon 87’), Natalie Tobin, Olivia Price (Servet Uzunlar 46’), Georgia Yeoman-Dale, Alanna Kennedy, Kyah Simon, Leena Khamis

Substitutes – Sarah Easthope (gk)