The Newcastle Jets’ “box office” appeal is growing by the minute after another blistering performance at home at the weekend.
For the first time in the club’s 21-year history, the A-League Men’s (ALM) side snared its fifth consecutive win following a brilliant 4-1 demolition of the Brisbane Roar at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday 31 January.
The fixture also attracted 12,162 fans, with the organisation last hosting a 10,000-plus crowd in May 2019.
To hear the chants “Newcastle, Newcastle, Newcastle” was reminiscent of the 2017/18 season, too.
Lachlan Bayliss scored twice, while in-form striker Lachlan Rose converted a penalty in the 18th minute, before Clayton Taylor struck in the 52nd.
Brisbane defender Dimitri Valkanis hit back in the 62nd.
But, Bayliss snuffed out any chance of a Roar comeback by restoring the two-goal lead less than a minute later.
The Queenslanders were reduced to 10 men in the dying stages when English striker Chris Long was shown his second yellow card for fouling Taylor.
Then Bayliss completed his maiden career brace two minutes into added time.
Long had fouled Eli Adams for his first booking.
Newcastle’s remarkable revival under first-year coach Mark Milligan continues, with the Jets a chance of finishing outright first if Auckland fails to beat Perth Glory.
The Roar, meanwhile, has slipped from third to seventh (6-3-7) in the new year.
A suspected hamstring injury to captain Jay O’Shea in the 35th minute only added to Brisbane’s woes.
Taylor set the tone early, bamboozling the Roar defence with a daring run down the left wing in the seventh minute, before firing off a cross to Rose.
He couldn’t get to the pass but made up for the missed opportunity by scoring the opener.
Brisbane keeper Dean Bouzanis gave away a penalty for fouling Taylor in the 16th minute.
The goalie took him to ground in an attempt to intercept an air ball from Newcastle midfielder Will Dobson.
And, Rose converted for a 1-0 lead, his seventh goal of the season.
Local product Dobson, 18, almost scored his fourth in the 30th minute, however he was denied by the knee of Bouzanis.
In the 52nd, Joel Bertolissio put Adams into space, who cut back inside to find a waiting Taylor for a 2-0 scoreline.
Rose found the back of the net in the 61st minute after combining with Taylor again, following some fantastic lead-up work by Max Burgess.
But, on this occasion, he was ruled offside.
Then, against the run of play, the Roar responded through a header to Valkanis.
However, Brisbane’s joy was short-lived.
Rose and Taylor combined to set up Bayliss to restore the two-goal buffer.
He then put the icing on the cake in the 91st minute.
- With AAP
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