Newcastle put four past Melbourne

I may not be the world’s greatest strategist, but Ernie Merrick’s substitutions on Friday night made no sense to me. Perhaps I’m missing the big picture. But if you’re down two goals at half time, then concede a third five minutes in, surely that’s an ideal time to bring on some fresh attacking legs? No?

Instead, Merrick waited until after the 60th minute (his trademark time to make a substitution), after Melbourne had finally scored. But by then, the Jets had already scored a fourth, and Melbourne needed a goal every five minutes or so to get anything out of the game. A tall order for any side.

The game started well enough. Newcastle had practically no attacking momentum, as Melbourne created chance after chance. An Archie Thompson goal was disallowed for his being offside – a decision shown to be wrong by the replays. But you still got the feeling that it was just a matter of time before Melbourne finished one of their chances and took the lead.

It didn’t turn out that way. Newcastle, in what seemed to be their first attack of the game, opened their scoring when Matt Thompson headed in what would be the first of three he’d score. As soon as the Jets took the lead, they also grabbed the momentum. Suddenly, it was all Newcasle, with Melbourne obviously on the back foot.

It was a game that ran away from us. Newcastle didn’t start strong, but they surged after they scored. Trailing, Melbourne looked stale. As has so often been the case this season, they looked clueless in the final third, a team that’s worked out how to pass it around the box but can’t figure out how to get a shot off.

The loss has made Melbourne slip below the Queensland Roar on goal difference, while Wellington and Central Coast trail by a point (though they have both played one more game than Melbourne and Queensland). Adelaide United, which had another bye this week, remains at the top of the table with a game in hand.