A Clayton Taylor inspired performance has seen the Newcastle Jets come away from their trip to New Zealand with the three points as they put in a professional display to defeat the Wellington Phoenix 3-0 at Sky Stadium.
The Jets got off to the perfect start in the third minute when Clayton Taylor was played down the left side by Lucas Mauragis. Taylor found his way into the box to play in Apostolos Stamatelopoulos who scored his fifth goal of the campaign and put the Jets 1-0 up.
Reno Piscopo made his first start of the season after returning from a calf injury and the Jets number 10 was heavily involved in play, narrowly almost scraping the crossbar with an attempt from distance in the 31st minute.
Rob Stanton’s side made it 2-0 in the 42nd minute when a ball into the box by Dane Ingham sparked massive confusion amongst the Phoenix defence. The ball fell to Clayton Taylor who doubled the Jets lead.
The second half began in the best possible way for the Jets when Clayton Taylor dazzled his way into Wellington’s box only to be hacked down in the area. There was no complaints from the Phoenix players as Apostolos Stamtelopoulos stepped up to emphatically put the Jets 3-0 ahead in the 46th minute.
Wellington tried to break down the Jets’ resolve however the Newcastle defence stood firm and Ryan Scott handled everything that was thrown at him.
The Jets still threatened to further inflict damage on the home side and a Thomas Aquilina led counter-attack in the 67th minute almost resulted in Stamatelopoulos further adding to his tally for the evening.
Wellington almost pulled a goal back when Tim Payne hit the post in the 81st minute but it was not to be for the home side as Rob Stanton’s side held on for the three points.
