The Newcastle Jets have slumped to their fourth consecutive A-League Women’s (ALW) loss in a worrying sign for coach Stephen Hoyle.
In a match pushed back two hours, due to the excessive heat in the Hunter, the hosts let slip a lead to succumb to F3 Derby rivals Central Coast Mariners 2-1 at No. 2 Sportsground on Saturday 10 January.
To the local mentor’s credit, he threw caution to the wind, making six changes to the side’s starting line-up from the previous round.
Stand-in skipper Libby Copus-Brown, Alexis Collins, Kelli Brown, Charlotte Lancaster, Zoe Karipidis and Emma Bates provided plenty of spark in attack, especially in the opening half.
And, to be fair, Newcastle should have led 3-0 at the break.
Brown missed a huge opportunity in the 13th minute, while Sophie Hoban couldn’t apply the finishing touches with an open goalmouth in front of her.
At the other end of the field, keeper Anna Leat produced some outstanding saves.
Then, in the 47th minute, Copus-Brown passed off to Brown, who make no mistake on this occasion, firing home for a 1-0 lead.
Collins then sent a shot wide close to the interval.
But, the second period belonged to Central Coast.
Exciting prospect Peta Trimis equalised 1-all in the 52nd minute with a wonderful strike.
She backed up to help seal the deal late in the fixture, by assisting another youngster Annalise Rasmussen.
The 20-year-old bagged her eighth goal in 2025/26 to push the visitors ahead 2-1.
However, the Jets refused to surrender.
In fact, they had plenty of the ball in the last 15 minutes, with 67.65% possession compared to just 32.35% for their opponents.
On top of that, it appeared as though the pill crossed the Mariners’ goal-line in the dying stages… but Newcastle was denied by the officials because the VAR is not utilised in the ALW.
“I think we created a lot of chances [today], more than we have in previous weeks,” Copus-Brown said.
“Maybe, that was a penalty at the end, who knows?
“Also, maybe the ball went over the line, but who knows?
“It’s just really disappointing to come away from that game without any points.”
The Jets now tackle the lowly-placed Sydney FC at Leichhardt Oval on Tuesday (13 January) and Melbourne City at AMMI Park next Friday (16 January), before returning home to face Adelaide United the following Wednesday (21 January).
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