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 Jets break the drought with win in Brisbane 

Jets break the drought with win in Brisbane

28 Jan, 2012 09:58 PM
Captain Jobe Wheelhouse scored his second goal in four days to lead the Jets to an upset 1-0 win over A-League champions Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night and end a year-long drought on the road.

Playing his second game back from a foot injury, Wheelhouse put the visitors ahead in the 23rd minute after a neat one-two with Ben Kantarovski.

The home-grown midfielder had scored the equaliser in the 1-all draw with Adelaide on Wednesday night in Bathurst.

The brace took his career tally to six in 87 A-League games.

But given the circumstances, the strike against the Roar was arguably his most important.

The Jets' last win on the road was a 3-1 triumph over the now-defunct North Queensland in Townsville on January 8, 2011.

But they had to hang on for dear life to grab all three points against a Roar side which threw everything at the Jets in an enthralling second half.

The win was the Jets' sixth for the season and moved them into seventh place on 22 points, two adrift of Sydney, who they visit next Sunday.

With the Jets lining up for their third game in eight days, van Egmond opted for a conservative approach and went away from his preferred 4-3-3 formation to a 4-4-2.

Korean Byun Sung-hwan came in at left back, Jobe Wheelhouse and Jacob Pepper returned in midfield and Francis Jeffers partnered Ryan Griffiths up front.

Roar coach Ange Postecoglou made two changes from the outfit which drew 1-all with Melbourne Heart. Teenager Nick Fitzgerald came in for the suspended Besart Berisha and Henrique was preferred over Issey Nakajima-Farran.

More than 50 millimetres of rain fell in Brisbane in the 24 hours leading up to the match. There was a light drizzle at kick-off but the surface, although greasy, held up well.

As they did in the 2-1 loss to the Roar in round seven, the Jets made a bright start.

Jacob Pepper and Francis Jeffers forced Roar keeper Michael Theoklitos into two diving saves inside 10 minutes.

At the other end, it was Thomas Broich pulling the strings, knocking balls in behind for livewire Henrique and debutant Nick Fitzgerald.

But it was the visitors who went ahead after 23 minutes through Wheelhouse.

The skipper played a neat one-two with Ben Kantarovski on the edge of the box and slid a shot under the right glove of Theoklitos.

Coming into the match the Jets had the second-worst second half record in the league, having won just two.

They had a chance to go 2-0 inside a minute after the restart when Jobe Wheelhouse released Ryan Griffiths. But the fringe Socceroo hesitated and shot straight at Theoklitos.

From that moment of the second half it was all the Roar, but they could not break down a resolute and determined Jets.

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comments


Date: Newest first | Oldest first
Congrats to the players and GVE. Jeffers' ability to read the game better than most in the league should see him, subject to no injuries, be retained for next season. Bridgey's class and experience was priceless in the dying minutes. Now the real test is to back it up next week.
Posted by steeler, 28/01/2012 10:17:08 PM, on The Herald
Congrats Boys!
Posted by FED UP, 28/01/2012 10:47:48 PM, on The Herald
Sack GVE asap!

How dare they beat the reigning champions on their home ground?

Posted by Leroy, 28/01/2012 11:42:02 PM, on The Herald
Should keep some columnists quiet for a week.
Posted by kody, 28/01/2012 11:43:25 PM, on The Herald
Switch to a 442 formation and we win - what does that tell you, play to the strength of your team and you'll do well. Force them into something they are not suited for and they'll fail!
Posted by The Keeper, 29/01/2012 12:08:10 AM, on The Herald
Wheelhouse out

GVE out

Keyboard warriors unite...

Posted by kman, 29/01/2012 12:17:53 AM, on The Herald
Poor old Robert Dillon won't be able to write any more articles on the Jets' not winning away from home.
Posted by kman, 29/01/2012 12:22:22 AM, on The Herald
Let's do something different bloggers....congratulate our team. What a gutsy performance.

Well done Jets!

Posted by Spurs, 29/01/2012 6:24:29 AM, on The Herald
Hallelujah.
Posted by markspointjet, 29/01/2012 8:34:38 AM, on The Herald
Any vision of finals football is fantasy, but at least this just may turn our season around so we can finish on a high in readiness for next season.
Posted by DaveM, 29/01/2012 8:59:14 AM, on The Herald
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