Newcastle coach Phil Stubbins was full of praise for his players after they put last week’s disastrous 4-0 defeat by Brisbane behind them to hold Western Sydney to a 1-1 draw on Saturday at Pirtek Stadium.
The result kept the Wanderers at the foot of the table with the Jets one place above them in ninth spot.
Both sides are still looking for a first win of the season after Marcos Flores’s first-half equaliser cancelled out Tomi Juric’s sumptuous volley that opened the scoring.
Both sides had chances to win the game but it was the Jets boss who was the happier man.
“Last week was an embarrassing performance from the club but we worked all week on trying to atone for that and credit to the boys, I’m extremely proud of them,” Stubbins said.
“It’s a decent feeling this week. It wasn’t a win but it was a much-improved performance.
“We’re searching for that win, Western Sydney are in the same boat. It was a step in the right direction.”
Stubbins singled out the contribution of Flores, who made only his second start of the season as he continues his comeback from a serious knee injury picked up when he played for the Central Coast.
“To score the goal the way he did was a tonic for Marcos,” he said.
“He’s not 100 per cent yet coming back. But today he did himself credit and made everyone supporting Newcastle very proud of his performance.
“We want to improve as a footballing team. We’ve shown glimpses of that and Marcos is a person that allows us to play in a different way. He’s added something to the team.”
Wanderers coach Tony Popovic said his side did enough to win the game but maintains his belief that there is nothing to panic about, despite being without a win in six games.
Juric hit the post in the second half with a curling effort and Rukavytsya should have done better when his weak effort was saved by Ben Kennedy after good work from Romeo Castelen.
“We did well Wednesday against the Mariners and today was better again,” Popovic said.
“Unfortunately we weren’t ruthless enough in front of goal. A problem we had on Wednesday also. But we’re heading in right direction for sure with the new players.
“They had one shot on target the whole game and we conceded.
“We pushed and probed but in the end they were pretty resilient. I don’t think we ever looked like losing the game but unfortunately we didn’t win.”
The Wanderers face in-form city rivals Sydney FC next Saturday at home and Popovic is confident the Asian champions can finally get off the mark for the season against Graham Arnold’s side.
“It’s important when you’re dominating like that you don’t throw the game away,” he said.
“We’ve done that twice now and if we can maintain that then we expect another improvement on Saturday.
“You can’t guarantee a result but if the performance keeps improving I know what happens next, you start racking up the points.”
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Even though St.Pauli ultimately lost a high-scoring affair, Jackson Irvine was a standout, as well as scoring a late goal.
Mathew Leckie played a pivotal part in Melbourne City claiming an 8-nil win; playing a role in several of his team's goals.
The loser of the Sydney Derby will be under immense pressure entering the final three matches of the season.
A good performance from Michael Ruhs, scoring twice to beat Macarthur and doubling his season goal tally in the process.
Phillip Cancar’s rather comical and momentarily delayed dive in the 36th minute of Newcastle Jets 3-1 win over Sydney FC on Sunday was a…
Anthony Caceres is a player with immense talent and has a fantastic work rate, broke the deadlock against the Mariners in the 74th minute.
