Brisbane Still Searching Four Win

By: Ahmed | October 30th, 2009

Brisbane Roar have ended their four-match losing streak, but are still without a win, after a hard-fought 1-1 draw against the Newcastle Jets at Suncorp Stadium tonight.

A first-half penalty from Sergio van Dijk cancelled out Labinot Haliti’s opener to share the spoils after a dominant second-half performance from Brisbane drew few clear-cut opportunities.

The match got off to a lively start as the Jets showed their eagerness with two half-chances inside the first five minutes.

Matt Thompson screwed a shot wide before Haliti latched onto a clever flick from Michael Bridges but could only hit the ball straight at Griffin McMaster from a tight angle.

On 22 minutes McMaster had more work to do, reacting quickly to keep Adam D’Apuzzo’s out of the net after the ball deflected off Ivan Franjic.

The signs were worrying for the Roar and things got worse 10 minutes later when Haliti climbed high to head the Jets into the lead from a Bridges cross.

However, the lead lasted just four minutes, with D’Apuzzo handling in the area to gift the hosts a penalty, which van Dijk neatly tucked away.

Minutes before the interval van Dijk nearly found the lead when he towered above the Jets defence to meet a Tommy Oar cross and forced Ben Kennedy into a fingertip save.

The teams continued their measured approach in the second half, but it meant little in the way of goal-mouth action, with neither ‘keeper breaking a sweat until a long-range effort from Danny Tiatto on 57 minutes kept Kennedy on his toes.

Five minutes later the Jets ‘keeper was late to punch a Tiatto cross but the ball eluded everyone else in the box and went harmlessly over the line for a goal kick.

Up the other end, Jin-Hyung Song was happy to take pot-shots from the edge of the area, first blasting a shot over the bar and then sending a low drive wide of the mark.

The Roar returned fire through van Dijk, the Dutchman getting on the end of some nice play between Oar and Mitch Nichols but his right-footer was comfortable for Kennedy.

The game opened up in the final minutes as both teams looked for a winner, but with defenders from both sides winning the crucial battles the match ended in a stalemate.

Brisbane boss Ange Postecoglou was frustrated to leave with a point after watching his team control large portions of the match.

“We certainly had enough of the ball and we moved it quite well,” he said.

“In the front third we got some good combinations but just our final pass sometimes let us down and I thought if we were a little bit sharper around the box we could’ve created some more opportunities.”

However, Postecoglou said he remained “super positive” about the Roar’s season despite the result and hoped the team could build on the draw.

“We’ve got to go to Adelaide super positive try and get a result there too and then hopefully after the break we get some players to come back in (from injury).”

Brisbane Roar 1 (Labinot Haliti 32’)
Newcastle Jets 1 (Sergio van Dijk (pen.) 36’)

Brisbane Roar: 20. Griffin McMaster (gk), 2. Andrew Packer, 3. Luke DeVere, 4. Craig Moore (c), 9. Sergio van Dijk, 15. Matt McKay, 17. Mitch Nichols, 18. Danny Tiatto (29. Mario Karlovic 72’), 19. Isaka Cernak, 21. Tommy Oar, 27. Ivan Franjic.

Unused substitutes: 30. Matt Acton (gk), 5. Josh McCloughan, 6. David Dodd.

Yellow cards: nil.

Red cards: nil.

Newcastle Jets: 1. Ben Kennedy (gk), 2. Angelo Costanzo, 3. Adam D’Apuzzo, 4. Nikolai Topor-Stanley, 6. Ben Kantarovski, 7. Jin-Hyung Song, 8. Matt Thompson (c) (12. Jobe Wheelhouse 69’), 11. Tarek Elrich, 14. Michael Bridges (22. Kaz Patafta 76’), 17. Fabio Vignaroli, 25. Labinot Haliti (9. Sasho Petrovski 80’).

Unused substitutes: 20. Neil Young (gk).

Yellow cards: Adam D’Apuzzo 35’, Ben Kantarovski 63’.

Red cards: nil.

Referee: Chris Beath.

Crowd: 7509 at Suncorp Stadium.

*Extracted from brisbaneroar.com.au