Star signing Emile Heskey received most of the plaudits but Newcastle coach Gary van Egmond was hailing the performance of his exciting young wingers after the Jets’ A-League win over Central Coast.
Former England international Heskey scored one goal and set up the other as the Jets triumphed 2-1 in Saturday night’s F3 derby at Hunter Stadium.
It was the big striker’s second goal in as many weeks but there was plenty more to like for the Jets as 20-year-olds Craig Goodwin and James Virgili continued excellent starts to the season.
Virgili put in the best performance in his fledgling A-League career, setting up Heskey’s goal and proving a constant menace for Mariners left back Josh Rose with his pace and trickery.
“It was good to see him (Virgili) put in a performance like that,” Van Egmond said.
“He is going to derive a lot of confidence from that as well.
“… The senior players are also feeling a lot more confident with James and they rub off on each other.”
Van Egmond said the youngster was hitting his stride after a long and arduous off-season.
“It was good for young James. I was talking to Tara our media person and she said she felt sorry for him, with me screaming at him all pre-season,” Van Egmond said.
“I’m really happy for James and he is developing nicely.”
Goodwin put in another accomplished display, hitting the crossbar with a spectacular free kick and is quickly becoming a fan favourite at Hunter Stadium.
“He’s (Goodwin) got wonderful speed and he’s got wonderful athleticism in regards to getting up and down,” Van Egmond said.
“It is the quality we need too, you know, beating players and getting the cross over and making sure there is an outcome from all the good work that you’ve done.”
Van Egmond was impressed with how the pair combined with Heskey and was also delighted with his marquee signing’s progress.
Despite only arriving in the country just a week out from the season start, the former Liverpool striker looks to have quickly found his stride.
“He (Heskey) has basically had an assist with the first goal and scored the second so we are very happy with him,” he said.
Heskey won the penalty converted by Ryan Griffiths for the Jets’ opener and was on the end of Virgili’s work for the second.
Substitute Bernie Ibini was on target for the Mariners in the 72nd minute but it wasn’t enough to prevent their first loss of the season.
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