The 21-year-old midfielder scored either side of a Josh McCloughan goal to seal the Roar’s second win of the season after three rounds.

With no A-League this weekend, first-team wingers Michael Zullo and Robbie Kruse were amongst the Roar Youth line-up and were a constant threat to the Jets defence throughout the match.

The former showed his class on four minutes when he received the ball on the left wing and nutmegged his opponent before his low cross was cleared behind by the Jets defence.

On the quarter-hour mark Isaka Cernak tested Jordan Griffiths with a curling shot but the Jets ‘keeper was able to palm the shot over the bar.

The resulting corner found Josh McVey at the back post but the striker sent his first-time volley wide of the post.

McVey turned provider on 19 minutes when he drove a perfect cross to Michael Zullo who volleyed wide from the top of the area.


The pair combined again in the 29th minute when Zullo drove through the centre of the park before laying off to McVey, who wrong-footed his defender but saw his shot come crashing back off the bar.

It looked only a matter of time before the Roar broke through, and on 37 minutes the goal finally came through Chris Grossman.

McVey won a free kick on the right of the Jets’ penalty area, which Kruse dispatched right on the head of Grossman and Griffith’s was unable to get enough behind the shot to keep it out.

The Roar went two up four minutes into the second half when the Jets failed to clear a corner and Josh McCloughan sent a close range volley crashing through the back of the net.

The Jets’ best chance of the game came on 68 minutes, when a Antun Kovacic connected well with a corner but saw his header cleared off the line by McVey.

The home team were reduced to 10 men in the 76th minute, when Tyler Thurtell, who had been booked just minutes earlier, was shown a second yellow card for dissent.

However, the Roar overcame their numerical disadvantage and sealed the win with a third goal in stoppage time.

Zullo put Grossman through on goal and the midfielder calmly slotted the ball past Griffiths.

Roar Youth coach Rado Vidosic said he was happy with the performance of his team which included a lot of new faces from previous weeks.

"This is the first time these boys are playing together so it took them a little bit longer than what I expected," he said. "But once they got going it was really good to watch them.

Newcastle Jets Youth Team coach Craig Deans said that there were valuable lessons to be learned from the game for his young chargers.

“There was certainly a lot that can be taken from the game from our point of view,” he said. “We played some nice football, particularly in patches of the second half, but ultimately we paid the price for our mistakes. They had some experienced boys out there who made the most of their chances and that’s something the younger ones can learn from.”

“We’ve had a couple of away games now and it’ll be good to head home to Newcastle to play in front of our home fans for the first time next week,” said Deans.