The Newcastle Jets have played out a thrilling 2-2 draw with the Western Sydney Wanderers at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The match started with minimal action in the first 15 minutes with both sides aiming to settle into the contest.
The Jets took the lead when a Trent Buhagiar cross was met perfectly by Apostolos Stamatelopoulos who guided his header by past Wanderers goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas.
Just moments later the Jets had the chance to double their lead when Trent Buhagiar was played through on goal.
Rob Stanton’s side continued to mount pressure on the visitors and they were rewarded again when a ball in behind the defence from Lachlan Bayliss was met by Trent Buhgaiar who squared it for Apostolos Stamatelopoulos for his second goal.
The Jets started the second half with intent and looked to build on their two-goal advantage.
The Wanderers pulled a goal back when a Marcelo header from a corner was put away by Josh Brillante in the 61st minute.
The Jets almost made it 3-1 when Trent Buhagiar looped the ball over the Lawrence Thomas only to have his shot cleared off the line in the 73rd minute.
Despite the Jets continuing to threaten the Wanderer’s goal the visitors found an equaliser when Oscar Priestman’s ball found it’s way past the Jets defence to find Marcus Antonssson who made it 2-2 in the 81st minute.
Almost a couple of minutes later the Wanderers were awarded a penalty for a handball on Jets defender Dane Ingham. VAR interevened and the decision was overuled.
The Jets continued to push for a winner and almost found one when Clayton Taylor found his way into the box, only to have his shot saved by Thomas.
The match finished a 2-2 draw in Rob Stanton’s first home game as Jets coach.
The Jets now face an away trip to Ballarat to face Western United next Saturday.
