By Liam FitzGibbon
November 9th 2009 @ 6:17am
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Jets still contenders after win over Fury
Newcastle coach Branko Culina declared the Jets were still A-League title contenders after getting their campaign back on track with a 2-0 win over North Queensland on Sunday.
Just four days after their worst performance of the season, a 3-0 loss in Wellington, the Jets produced a dominant display at EnergyAustralia Stadium, with second half goals to Matt Thompson and Michael Bridges giving them just their fourth win of the campaign.
It saw them move off last place and leapfrog the Fury into ninth and Culina believes with half the season remaining his side is still good enough to reach the top six and cause some problems in the finals.
“I think we are (a finals team),” Culina said.
“I think we’re even more than just a team that’s capable of making the finals, I think if we can get a bit of momentum going, and have our best squad available we’re quite capable of hurting every team in the competition.
“We’ve beaten Gold Coast, we’ve beaten Central Coast, in my opinion we were very unlucky against both Melbourne and Sydney, and they are the frontrunners, so what is there really to be afraid of?
“What I’d like to see with this team is it put together two or three good results.”
The margin could have been even greater in front of 6271 fans had the home side capitalised on a heap of chances, with Fury goalkeeper Paul Henderson making several great saves.
The win also came despite the loss of first-choice goalkeeper Ben Kennedy, who injured his groin in the warm up.
That saw back-up ‘keeper Neil Young promoted to the starting line-up after playing half a game from the Jets’ youth team and the 30-year-old gave a performance described as “excellent” by Culina, who hinted he could even retain his place next game.
It looked like it could be a frustrating afternoon for the Jets, who dominated the first half but couldn’t convert their chances.
But Thompson finally gave them the lead when he was on hand to prod home a cross from Bridges after Labinot Haliti had put the Englishman into space.
The Jets pushed hard and did everything but add to their tally with good chances to Fabio Vignaroli, Sean Rooney and Haliti.
They finally put the result beyond doubt in the 84th minute when Bridges was barged over in the box by Fury substitute Paul Kohler, the former Leeds man cooly slotting his spot kick past Henderson.
The Fury barely got a sight on goal, with star striker Robbie Fowler kept to a quiet game.
Fury coach Ian Ferguson was at a loss to explain the performance.
“I’m just disappointed in the manner we played,” he said.
“(A win) could have put us into the top six but now we’re stranded at the bottom of the league.”
The loss was further compounded by a serious knee injury to midfielder James Robinson and Ferguson admitted his prospects of playing again this season weren’t looking good.
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