While conceding it wasn’t the outcome he craved, Mark Milligan is confident the Newcastle Jets will be “better for the experience” after the side’s first round loss.

Following an impressive run in the Australia Cup, and securing the trophy earlier this month, hopes were high that form would translate into the A-League Men’s (ALM) opener at the weekend.

But, after fighting to draw level at 2-all, the Hunter-based club suffered a shock, and somewhat controversial 3-2 loss, to F3 Derby rivals Central Coast Mariners in the dying stages at polytec Stadium.

Newcastle now boasts a handful of days to regroup before its next showdown, with Melbourne Victory, at McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday 24 October.

“You know, in many ways, the pre-season has been good,” Milligan said.

“However, it’s in these moments of adversity that you really grow.

“It is a chance for the squad to double down on what we do… and we get to show the fans that when we do things our way, it gives us the best opportunity of winning a football game.

“When we shy away from that, then it becomes difficult.

“So, it’s a fantastic learning moment for them.

“Take nothing away, I’m bitterly disappointed that we didn’t get the three points for our supporters because they travelled down [to Gosford] in fantastic numbers.

“But, I trust they saw the work and the intent our players put in.

“Hopefully, they’re excited by that and show up in good numbers on Friday night.”

One area of concern to Milligan was the incident surrounding Central Coast defender Nathan Paull.

He received a yellow card in the 68th minute for a foul on Lachlan Rose.

Referee Shaun Evans conferred with the VAR about a possible red, however to everyone’s surprise the decision was overturned altogether.

“There are a lot of things I don’t understand… and that’s fine,” he said.

“I’m positive that call didn’t directly impact the result; that’s not the reason we lost.

“However, I would like some clarification around it because we have these big meetings at the start of the season.

“They want to talk about speeding the game up and the eight seconds with the officials counting down the goalkeeper.

“But, then, the match was slowed down by the referee, not the opposition, not by us.

“We’re trying to do things quickly, as we’ve been instructed.

“Then, there’s that yellow card.

“I didn’t think we checked fouls outside the box, so I’m sure they’ll have an explanation for it.

“At the end of the day, we had our chances and didn’t convert them.

“I spoke about it in the lead-up that what happened prior to this didn’t matter coming into the game.

“ALM is a different type of match, whether it be Australia Cup or pre-season friendlies.

“No matter what, we need to learn to manage those moments within the way we do things on big occasions as well.

“We had opportunities out there where we could have really taken the game by the scruff of the neck… and really put our authority forward.

“Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

“So, again, it’s something we must learn fast.

“How do we do that in certain moments and do it the way that we need to do it?

“Apart from a couple of things, I honestly can’t fault the boys’ effort.”

For more sports stories:

• Mariners stun Jets to claim F3 Derby honours
• Parker wins another paratriathlon world title
• Holbrook unveils staff to reignite Knights’ title aspirations

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