Jets fail to launch in draw

Newcastle have squandered a golden opportunity to close the gap on the A-League top four, allowing two penalty goals as Wellington escaped with a 2-2 draw at EnergyAustralia Stadium today.

The defending A-League champions seemed set for just their second win of the season before busy Phoenix import Leilei Gao fell dramatically after a Matt Thompson challenge in the dying minutes.

With much of the 8,492 crowd screaming in protest, Shane Smeltz calmly finished the 90th-minute spot kick — his second of the match — as a violent rainstorm swept the ground.

Smeltz’s 52nd-minute penalty had the Phoenix sniffing back-to-back wins for the first time in their short history, but Jets goals to Tarek Elrich and substitute Kaz Patafta in the space of nine minutes looked likely to settle the issue.

The fact it didn’t left Jets coach Gary Van Egmond fuming.

“It’s frustrating at home and not getting the full points,” he said.

“If you want to be a serious contender we need to win those ones.”

The hosts were without their talisman Joel Griffiths and his brother Adam (both hamstring), along with striker Jason Hoffman (knee) and two other squad members on youth international duty.

And with marquee signing Ecuadorian international Edmundo Zura kept in check in an uneven opening stanza, the Phoenix could sense an upset.

Veteran striker Vaughan Coveny did his bit for the cause, going one-on-one with Daniel Piorkowski, who challenged clumsily in the area before Smeltz converted the first penalty.

But the lead was shortlived when the ball fell to Elrich in space and he found Phoenix custodian Mark Paston off his line with a 20m strike in the 59th minute.

The momentum shifted the Jets way as the crowd lifted them, and they hit the front in the 68th minute when Matt Thompson lobbed a ball over Karl Dodd, Zuna nodding past Paston before Patafta nudged home.

But the visitors had the last say.

Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert labelled it a fair result and hailed the new-found belief in his side after their breakthrough 2-1 win over Sydney FC last week.

“That’s a little bit more like us. I think if that had been three weeks ago we probably would have lost the game.

“There’s a much better spark, there’s a real belief and last week was decent for us. We got dragged through the media a bit which sometimes doesn’t do you any harm.

“We’ve shown the resolve and character and the quality of what’s at the football club to turn that around.”

The result left the Phoenix second from bottom, but just one point behind the jittery Jets, who also remained anchored on a solitary win from seven matches.

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