Newcastle striker Roy O’Donovan has bagged a first-half A-League hat-trick to help the Jets thrash his former club Central Coast 5-1 in Gosford.
O’Donovan, who was the Mariners’ top scorer in each of his two seasons with the club, was booed on Saturday by some of the home fans.
But the jeers were soon overwhelmed by the cheers of the away supporters, in the crowd of 12,044, as the 32-year-old Irishman had three goals on the board inside 38 minutes and he helped overturn an early deficit.
O’Donovan also supplied the pass that set up substitute Joseph Champness for the Jets’ fourth goal in the 81st minute and Dimi Petratos struck a spectacular fifth in the 90th.
It was a first win in 11 A-League games for 2016-17 last-placed Newcastle, who last won on January 27 and hadn’t scored a goal in their final five matches of last season.
They looked a more-potent outfit, with O’Donovan, new import Ronald Vargas Petratos and Andrew Nabbout all lively.
The Mariners scored first through new Spanish striker Asdrubal in the fifth minute.
It was a short-lived lead as O’Donovan converted a penalty he earned after being fouled by Mariners captain Alan Baro.
The veteran striker then capitalised on two smart assists from Nabbout, netting with a close-range shot and a perfect header.
The derby became feisty with the Jets’ Daniel Georgievski and Steven Ugarkovic and the Mariners’ Josh Rose all booked in the last few minutes of the first half.
Nabbout joined them in referee Jonathan Barreiro’s notebook in a second half in which both teams created more chances and the Mariners dominated the corner count.
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.
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 Mariners must deal with possibly their toughest challenge yet - Kyrgyzstan’s FK Abdysh-Ata Kant in the first leg of the semifinal.
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.
Anthony Caceres is a player with immense talent and has a fantastic work rate, broke the deadlock against the Mariners in the 74th minute.
As 'Dune: Part Two' takes the box office by storm, Central Coast Mariners will continue a sweeping epic of their own on Thursday as…
