Sydney FC v Jets: an unlikely shootout for four in a row

Both Sydney FC and the Newcastle Jets head into Saturday night’s clash at Allianz Stadium searching for what only a month ago seemed like a very unlikely fourth consecutive win.

This is the second meeting between the two this season after the Sky Blues took the honours in round one. An Alessandro Del Piero-inspired Sydney took the game 2- 0 but they were hardly convincing, merely capitalising on two blunders from the Novacastrians.

Midfield journeyman Zenon Caravella had a less than memorable game against Uncle Frank’s team, contributing to both Sydney goals. He’s hardly been sighted since.

At the time I thought the win said more about the inability of the Jets than the quality of Sydney – a thought that turned out to be correct with Sydney losing their next three with a combined score of 7-0, piling all sorts of pressure on Frank Farina.

Sydney have since won three in a row, showing more graft and determination than craft and skill to irk out their wins.

How they won against Victory I have no idea. When Troisi fired in a free kick to square the game at 2-all, Victory should’ve gone on with it. But thanks to a Contreras brain snap, Sydney held on to win 3-2.

They then played Melbourne Heart, who turned in their worst performance of the season, and a Wellington Phoenix side who never travel well.

The Kiwi side’s finishing was terrible until Kenny Cunningham produced a neat volley from fellow Costa Rican Carlos Hernandez’s corner. But they should’ve put Sydney to the sword after Pedj Bojic was sent off, with Vince Lia and Jeremy Brockie both spurning several fantastic openings.

The Jets have gone unbeaten since their first round loss to Sydney and have slowly built into the season.

A pair of dull nil-all draws against Wellington and Perth were the entree to an F3 derby draw where the Jets should’ve taken all three points against the Mariners after leading the champions 2-0.

Then, in what seemed like a massive result at the time, the Jets nabbed a win against the Reds in Adelaide. This saw the start of Adam Taggart’s amazing scoring spree, in which he’s netted Newcastle’s last six goals and five in the last two games.

Newcastle are yet to play two of the big four in Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers – a challenge they can look forward to in rounds 9 and 10 – but they have fared well against Central Coast (draw) and Brisbane Roar (win).

Only a month ago, Frank Farina and Gary van Egmond were – along with John Aloisi – the coaches most likely to be shown the door following their team’s poor starts.

But three wins on the trot have propelled them into equal third and their jobs are as safe as a professional football coach’s job can be.

Of the two teams, the Jets have been far more convincing.

It is often said you can tell the strength of a team from their bench. At the weekend the Jets had outfield substitutes Emile Heskey, Craig Goodwin, James Brown and Zenon Caravella at their disposal.

If these four are anything to go by, the Jets are building themselves a decent squad.

The gaffer suggested that Heskey may start this weekend, more than likely replacing youngster Andrew Hoole with the in-form Taggart moving to the wing.

Nathan Burns is getting better every game and the young midfield triumvirate of Zadkovich, Kantarovski and Brillante seem to be forming a nice combination with no set roles, allowing each of them to break or hold depending on requirements.

The backline is still young and when without Jaliens can be vulnerable, but Mark Birrighitti has been solid and has taken his chance with the Jets after being Eugene Galekovic’s understudy for several years in Adelaide.

By contrast, Sydney have been scratchy and far from convincing, but it is good to see the glamour club getting down in the trenches and fighting for each other. The starting team has been chopped and changed in recent weeks due to injuries, suspensions and form, but Sydney are still lacking a true #9.

Hopefully for their sake either Despotovic or Gameiro can play that role. This would allow Garcia to play his more favoured position out wide and they can utilise the creativity of Del Piero with the speed of Chianese or Naumoff on the opposite wing.

This game will not only decide which club gets a fourth win on the trot, but it could also contribute to the make-up of the top six finalists.

It’s an early prediction, I know, but I feel that Perth are the only team currently outside the top six that will break in – and it is more than likely going to be at the expense of one of these two teams.

With the media more than likely glamorising this clash as Del Piero versus Heskey, both clubs will be doing their best to show that they are much more than their marquee stars.