The Worst Goal Ever
This was a typical F3 Derby; after the slowest of starts we were presented with the full array of dismay, tragedy, artistry, character and redemption, and sweet seduction. It was an F3 derby that will live long in the memory; in Justin Pasfield’s case the memory will probably last a lifetime.
The first half was so uneventful that the two goalkeepers could have popped down to Sleep City and had a 45 minute snooze. If the Mariners were to get anything out of this game they would have to lift the tempo; I expected Arnie to make changes at half-time but he waited until 60 minutes by which time we were two goals adrift.
Just a few miles north of the football stadium in Newcastle coal mining has left massive holes in the landscape; in the 65th minute of this game Pasfield may have wished he could crawl into one of them and hide. He had just conceded the worst goal
ever conceded by the Mariners in their A-League history. It left the Mariners 2-0 down.
Sainsbury’s pass back was tame enough but somehow Pasfield completely missed the ball and it trickled under his foot, and, despite his desperate efforts, rolled over the line. Pasfield would not have been happy with his handling for the Jets first goal but this comic tragedy would have left him quite disconsolate. And Sainsbury could not be happy at an own goal to his name.
It was the Jets who came out firing in the second half; their midfield of Zadkovich, Kantarovski and Brilliante snuffing out the skills of McGlinchey, Flores and Fitzgerald. The artisan piano shifters outplayed the piano playing artistes. The first goal came from a well-worked free kick but the defence seemed to have it covered; when the shot came Pasfield blocked it but probably should have held on to it. Despite desperate scrambling the Jets full back Neville knocked the ball home. You just knew that it would be against the Mariners that the Jets would score their first goal of this season.
The Mariners’ substitutions changed the complexion of the game; Simon was immense up front, Sterjovski showed us glimpses of why he once was a regular Socceroo. Simon held the ball up and brought others into play, he harassed and bashed the Newcastle defenders, he won the ball in the air; in short his sheer physical presence and awesome enthusiasm put Newcastle on the back foot. Sterjovski was skilful and clever, beating his man, showing silky skills and sending in dangerous crosses. From one such cross Birghitti produced a fantastic full length save to deny Simon the equaliser. Flores had already pulled one back from the penalty spot.
To describe this as a simple penalty would be doing a great injustice to the charismatic Argentinean. When Chapman handled Rose’s cross there was no complaint from Newcastle; Flores coolly waited for the referee’s signal and sent Birghitti the wrong way from the spot; 2-1. But no, the referee ordered the kick retaken for one of those infringements that only a referee can see. Flores had not been having a good game but champion players always have the capacity to produce. The need to take the penalty again did not faze him; the hot-blooded Latin has ice in his veins and emphatically hit the ball beyond Birghitti.
Simon then almost equalised from Sterjovski’s cross before we saw the most seductive of skills from Flores. McGlinchey bewildered a gaggle of Newcastle’s defenders and gave the ball to Rose who gave it to Flores whose gentle but deadly pass again found Rose. It was the pass of a Casanova, of a Warren Beatty, of a George Clooney. It was John Malkovich toying with Uma Thurman in
Dangerous Liaisons. He slipped it in and Newcastle was undone. Birghitti could not hold Rose’s cross and Flores hit the bar following up. The ball came out to Sterjovski, in much better form this season than last, and he slammed it into the back of the net.
There was just time for Pasfield to earn some redemption, pawing away a wicked cross cum shot from Zadkovich, and then the frenzied action packed second half came to a close.
In a game where every player bar Matt Simon and Mile Sterjovski should take a hard look at themselves I made Simon my MoM; he lifted the team and turned the game around. Pasfield unfortunately brought home all the fears that supporters hold over replacing Mat Ryan. I doubt he will be in the starting eleven next week.
And don’t ask me about the standard of refereeing...
