Brisbane condemns Newcastle to wooden spoon

Brisbane Roar tuned up for the upcoming A-League finals campaign by beating Newcastle Jets 2-1 at Suncorp.

dnning

Brisbane Roar's Kofi Danning celebrates his goal (AAP) Source: AAP

The setback against a vastly depleted Brisbane side means the Jets have been consigned to the wooden spoon.

Kofi Danning's first A-League goal in more than three years gave Roar a second-half lead but the Jets drew level six minutes later through Edson Montano.

However, teenage defender Lachlan Jackson put Brisbane back in front with an opportunistic strike after an 86th minute goalmouth scramble that sent the crowd of 8693 fans into raptures.

It was a miserable way to end a season to forget for the Hunter club, coming on the same day chairman Nathan Tinkler was cited by Football Federation Australia for an ugly alleged verbal tirade at a journalist.

Danning had only been on the field for two minutes but he positioned himself perfectly at the back post, tapping in an attempted shot from Jean Carlos Solorzano that was tracking wide.

It was his first touch of the night and his first goal since December 2011, when he scored Roar's only goal in a 2-1 loss to Central Coast Mariners.

Once heralded as one of the A-League's best young prospects, Danning's last few seasons have been hampered by injury and he has barely been sighted this season.

But his enthusiastic celebrations were cut short when Montano struck in the 77th minute.

The Ecuadorean's job was made easy by substitute Travis Cooper, who expertly headed down a cross from Enver Alivodic to Montano's feet.

Fortunately for Roar,  Jackson - who did a sterling job in the centre of defence together with Daniel Bowles - was able to provide a timely response.

As predicted, Roar effectively fielded a youth team as interim boss Frans Thijssen rested all his first-choice stars after Tuesday night's AFC Champions League victory in China.

Like they did against Melbourne Victory a week earlier, Roar's players acquitted themselves well, even if they lacked the polish of the more seasoned professionals.

Both goalkeepers were kept equally busy in an uninspiring first half that made up what it lacked in quality with pure action.

Brisbane's best two chances fell to Steven Lustica, who hit the woodwork on both occasions.

The first came just three minutes in as he latched on to a ball in from Jean Carlos Solorzano, with Jets goalkeeper Ben Kennedy deflecting the shot onto the upright with his foot.

It was nearly a case of deja vu for Lustica in the shadows of halftime when he wound up for a long-range pop from around the same area where he scored two memorable strikes against Central Coast three weeks earlier.

Kennedy appeared to get a touch on it before it again thudded into the post and out of play.

The Jets also had their moments but the better ones came shortly after the hour mark, when they should have taken the lead through either Lee Ki-Je or Andrew Hoole, who both had excellent opportunities snuffed out.


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3 min read
Published 24 April 2015 9:30pm
Updated 24 April 2015 10:40pm

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