NEWCASTLE Jets enjoyed a 4-0 win over F3 rivals Central Coast Mariners at Bluetongue Stadium in the first ever National Youth League meeting between the sides.

Jesse Pinto, Adrian Karakolevski, James Virgili and Brodie Mooy shared the scoring for the visitors, who dominated from the outset to claim their breakthrough NYL triumph.
"Full credit to the Jets, they were out looking for their first win and they played very well tonight," said Mariners Youth Development Co-ordinator Damien Brown after the match.
"I think we started off well, which was pleasing as that had been our downfall in recent weeks and we spoke about that at training, but it was unfortunate that our heads went down after that first goal."
The first opportunity to open the scoring fell to the hosts, with midfielder Sean Mitchell firing a strong effort from distance on twelve minutes that was parried brilliantly by Jets goalkeeper Jordan Griffiths.
The Jets’ opener came from standout midfielder Pinto’s dipping free kick, which Mariners custodian Matthew Nash could only watch sail into an empty net after a wicked deflection.
The Mariners’ best chance to equalise came towards the end of the half when striker Darko Vidovic skewed a header wide of the upright with the goal at his mercy.
The home side would lament this miss soon after, when Karakolevski fired a superb strike from considerable distance past Nash to double the Jets’ advantage.
Despite the two-goal deficit at the break, the Mariners’ general play was mostly encouraging, with defenders Nathan Sherlock and Steven Tibbetts impressive throughout.
The second half continued to deliver some promising scoring opportunities for the Mariners –the best again falling to Vidovic, who was unlucky not to convert after being first to a rebound off Brady Smith’s free kick.
Newcastle added a third seven minutes from time through Virgili, before Mooy completed the scoring with only seconds left to play.
"There were a lot of positives to come out of the game in terms of the combinations that we’ve started to develop, which with the limited time we get training together is pleasing to see, tonight was also a big learning curve for our boys and I’m confident that we’ll bounce back from this," said Brown.
"It’s up to our guys to look in the mirror and we’ll continue to work hard at training and continue our improvement throughout the remainder of the season."

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