Western Sydney Wanderers drew 1-1 with Newcastle Jets in Parramatta as a late penalty from Roy O’Donovan wiped out a first-half goal from Bernie Ibini.
The home side came into this game having already beaten their opponents 2-1 away from home this season, while a derby day draw with Sydney FC followed by a lone goal win against Central Coast Mariners would have been a confidence booster.
On the other side of the coin, the Jets had started poorly by slumping to four straight defeats before a 2-1 victory over Wellington Phoenix kickstarted their season.
Newcastle were the ones to show some positive intent early on, as striker O’Donovan found himself in the box and had a go at goal. Despite the shot being blocked, the ricochet fell to him and he tried again, but was unable to capitalise.
After eight minutes, midfielder Ramy Najjarinedid extremely well on the right flank to release Jason Hoffman, who played the ball into a bit of space in the box. Young Wanderer Keanu Baccus made a mess of things in the box to hand the ball to Valentino Yuel. The attacker turned well towards goal, but his shot had too much power and lacked direction as it sailed over the bar.
As a midfield battle ensued with neither side really getting the better of the other, Ibini found himself being fed inside the box on the right. But his first touch shot went wide of the target.
After 25 minutes, goalkeeper Daniel Margush came well off his line to intercept Yuel at the edge of the box to deny what would have otherwise been a clear one-on-one with the attacker being the favourite.
Minutes later, Ibini did well to shake his off his marker down the left and make a good run into the box. His cross towards the far post was met with a Tate Russell header, which did the former Jeonbuk man’s run no justice as it was tame and straight at the ‘keeper.
Ten minutes before halftime was when Carl Robinson’s men took the lead to make it 1-0. Simon Cox – who had just come on for midfielder Nicolai Muller due to injury – found a little space at the edge of the box and sent one towards goal, which ended up hitting the post. But Ibini had made an anticipatory run using his predatory instincts to pick up the rebound and slot the ball home leaving shot-stopper Jack Duncan with no chance.
As the break approached, a good run from Russell coupled with a little help from veteran James Troisi resulted in Cox putting the ball into the back of the net. But the Irishman knew he was offside and the scoreline remained unchanged on that occasion.
Early on in the second period, Jets attacker Yuel was in a bit of space at the left side of the box as he turned to shoot. But much like his earlier effort, the shot had more power than direction as it sailed over the bar.
Despite being a goal down, Newcastle were fighting hard to get back into the game through good possession football as the home side were pinned down in their own half for long periods.
But on one occasion when they were not, Cox broke away on the left and made his way into the box in a counterattacking move. But the Irishman appeared to be in two minds as to whether he needed to go all the way or cut one through to a teammate. This gave defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley the time he needed to get a block in and end the move in its tracks.
With just under 20 minutes left, Craig Deans’ charges were pressing forward as Yuel played one through to O’Donovan. The experienced forward took a fraction of a second longer than he should have to take a shot, allowing defender Ziggy Gordon to put in an excellent sliding block to keep the visitors at bay.
But after 79 minutes, Newcastle made it 1-0 through a penalty. Young midfielder Luke Prso was taken down in the box by defender Patrick Ziegler, as the referee immediately pointed to the spot. O’Donovan stepped up to take the shot and made no mistake in sending a hard hit effort into the left corner of the net.
Five minutes were left to go as the visitors continued their positive momentum to search for a winner, as Yuel went charging down the left. But shot-stopper Margush came off his line to bravely dive at the oncoming attacker’s feet and collect the ball.
There was some concern towards the end of the game as the Jets’ skipper Nigel Boogaard came off worse on a nasty head collission with Thomas Aquilina and went down to the ground. Following some medical attention, the captain was able to continue.
Only moments were left in the game when midfielder Steven Ugarkovic took a corner for the visitors and sent it through to teammate John Koutroumbis at the near post. The flick towards goal from the youngster had Margush beaten, but the shot went wide.
As the man in charge brought the game to a halt, honours were even at the Western Sydney Stadium as both sides took a share of the spoils.
Western Sydney Wanderers take on Macarthur in a derby day at the Campbelltown Stadium next Saturday, while Newcastle Jets play host to Melbourne City next Sunday.
