A-League premiership winners Newcastle warmed up for next month’s finals series with a 4-0 thrashing of arch-rivals Central Coast on Saturday night.
Having secured the Premier’s Plate last weekend, the Jets finished off their regular season campaign in style in front of more than 20,000 fans at McDonald Jones Stadium.
First-half goals from Will Dobson, Clayton Taylor and Eli Adams ensured the latest edition of the F3 derby was as good as over by half-time, with substitute Kota Mizunuma providing the icing on the cake in the 86th minute.
“To be able to do what we’ve done this season, it’s crazy,” Dobson told Network 10.
“It’s unbelievable, There’s 20,000 people here – it’s just amazing.”
Perhaps the only concern for the Jets ahead of the finals is an ankle problem that forced the in-form Adams off early in the second-half.
However, with Newcastle having the opening weekend of the finals series off, Adams will have extra time to recover.
While the Jets are preparing for a bid to win a domestic treble after also lifting the Australia Cup this season, the Mariners’ 2025-26 campaign has come to an end, as has the tenure of departing coach Warren Moon, who is returning to Queensland for family reasons.
Central Coast will finish the season in ninth spot on 32 points, winning eight and drawing eight of the club’s 26 games.
The Mariners seemingly had legitimate claims for a penalty in 10th minute, but they were waved away by rookie referee Calvin Berg.
Mariners striker Nathanael Blair went down under the challenge of Newcastle defender Mark Natta, and despite replays clearly suggesting a foul had been committed, neither Berg – who was officiating his first A-League game – nor the VAR agreed.
Central Coast was to suffer further disappointment 11 minutes later when the Jets went ahead though midfielder Dobson.
Fed by teammate Ben Gibson, Dobson scored his fourth goal of the season when a right-footed strike that was too powerful for Mariners goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne.
Once in control, the hosts didn’t let up, doubling their lead in the 25th minute when Taylor scored with a near-post tap-in from an Adams cross.
The pair swapped roles in the 43rd minute, with Adams further increasing Newcastle’s lead with a header from a Taylor cross that gloveman Redmayne failed to hold.
The Mariners weren’t without their chances in the first-half, with a 34th-minute shot from attacking weapon Oli Lavale hitting the post, and a header from defender Brad Tapp flying wide of the post a few minutes before half-time.
Tapp, who was making his final appearance for the Mariners ahead of his move to Malaysian club Johor Darul Ta’zim, didn’t reappear for the start of the second-half after succumbing to a knee injury.
The Jets had a host of chances to add to their lead in the second-half, with their fourth goal from Mizunuma a fitting way to secure their first win over the Mariners this season.
VICTORY EYE HOME FINAL CHANCE
– Tony Harper
Brazilian Clarismario Santos scored a ruthless solo goal to send Melbourne Victory on the way to a 2-0 win over Western Sydney Wanderers and give themselves a chance of a home A-League final, as they welcomed back superstar Juan Mata after his broken elbow.
Victory went into third place, but they could be pushed back to fifth with Sydney FC and Adelaide United able to overtake them on Sunday.
The Wanderers had a goal ruled out for a close offside call and twice hit the woodwork after Santos opened the scoring on 70 minutes.
The result was sealed when Nikos Vergos scored a deflected second soon after coming on as a late substitute.
“There’s been some ups and downs and now it’s the finals,” said Victory’s player of the match Denis Genreau. “On our day nobody wants to play us, we have quality players and we’re in a great position to go on and win the whole thing. We really believe it and now it’s time to show it.”
The Wanderers were the more impressive team in the first half and had several good opportunities to take the lead, only for their season-long shooting yips to cruel them again.
Socceroo Brandon Borrello had the best chance of the lot in the 35th minute when he created separation in the box with a cute turn, then blasted his shot straight at a grateful Jack Warshawsky. Borrello seemed on a mission to whack the air out of the ball, an earlier shot from 25 metres was hit ferociously, and the keeper was fortunate to deflect it wide. But faced one on one with the keeper, Borrello might have found more joy with deft placement rather than raw aggression.
Former Premier League player Ryan Fraser was playing off the right, drifting deeper and into the centre, and he caused Victory a great deal of angst. One delicious long-range ball from wide on the right found Alex Gersbach, but he volleyed too close to Warshawsky.
For all the Wanderers’ danger, it was Victory who came closest to a first half goal when the post denied Genreau a viral moment.
Socceroo Nishan Velupillay played a ball over the top and Wanderers goalkeeper Jordan Holmes headed a low bouncing ball weakly into Genreau’s path. His first-time long-range effort bounced back into play off the post.
The Wanderers felt they should have taken a 1-0 lead on 58 minutes when the VAR ruled out a first-ever A-League goal for teenager Atiya Waraga. He bundled the ball through the legs of Jack Warshawsky from close range but was ruled offside after the ball came off the head of Borrello and the back of Jason Davidson.
With an off-season clear-out inevitable at the club, Waraga, who won his spot, at least showed glimpses of a more encouraging future.
But their present is a case of anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
A ball would not sit for Borrello in the box and was cleared away by Roderick Miranda for a Wanderers corner. Warshawsky punched clear and Angus Thurgate was stripped by Santos, who streaked away towards the Wanderers goal. Keeping his cool, he smashed his shot inside the near post for his 10th goal in his 50th A-League match.
“Talk about a counterattack,” said former Socceroo Erik Paartalu on Paramount Plus. “He started it all himself and he only had one thing on his mind. Everyone is expecting you to score but to squeeze it past the near post, it took composure, it took calmness and it took belief. Major moment, big chance, scores.”
Santos had a chance to make it 2-0 soon after but mis-hit wide. The Wanderers tried to send their supporters out on a high as Fraser spun a curler onto the crossbar and Dylan Scicluna fizzed a shot into the base of a post.
Mata returns after broken elbow
Juan Mata must have felt like he was back in 2024-25 as he was stuck on the bench at Parramatta Stadium, watching another A-League game drift by.
The former Spain, Manchester United and Chelsea star had a frustrating time at Wanderland under Alen Stajcic, but has shown his star quality since moving to Melbourne, scoring five goals and adding 13 assists in 23 appearances for Victory.
He suffered a broken elbow earlier this month but has made a remarkable recovery and took his place on the bench on Saturday.
Mata was booed onto the field by Wanderers fans after 81 minutes as Victory looked to shut the game out.
The small band of travelling fans will be hoping the Spaniard is the difference this season as they strive to go one better than last year’s losing Grand Final appearance.
“Sometimes when you look at an A-League squad you can tell if they are ready to go win something or not ready,” said Paartalu on Paramount Plus. “Adding a player like Juan Mata has completely changed the winning mentality because all of a sudden you have got a guy in the dressing room who is not afraid of going out there when the pressure is on, when they have lost a couple of games, when it is straying away from what they have believed in.
“That helps the coach. Newcastle Jets play with a similar philosophy of no fear. I think before Juan Mata came to Melbourne Victory there was an element of fear creeping into their game.”
Where did all the goals go?
Last season the Wanderers were the highest scoring team in the A-League regular season, banging in a club record 58, three more than next best Western United. This season they have fallen off a cliff, scoring 27, two worse than their nadir of 29 in 2015-2016.
Bulgarian international Bozhidar Kraev was their top scorer with just five and he is one of several players who are off contract now that the Wanderers’ season has come to a close.
There have been reports that Fraser could become the latest to cross the city to Sydney FC, while Socceroos striker Brandon Borrello and Josh Brillante are also being linked to potential departures.
Fraser was used in a roaming role on Saturday night, drifting deep and delivering several teasing crosses from deep on the right in the first half, and popping up more on the left as the game progressed, with former Socceroo Erik Paartalu joking that the club might be trying to entice him to stay by giving him the freedom of Wanderland.
Fraser has been one of the few bright spots for the Wanderers this season with four goals and three assists in 11 matches since arriving from Southampton in January.
If the club is to bounce back from their first-ever wooden spoon, they cannot afford to let him drift away like they did Mata.
There will be a new coach incoming, with Ufuk Talay replacing Gary van Egmond, who did not have the impact the club’s owners would have wanted when they sacked Alen Stajcic after 13 games. Stajcic won three, drew three and lost seven. Van Egmond had the same 3-3-7 record.
His inability to get a tune out of the side saw the team stay rock bottom, just as they were when he took over.
“The club is a disaster. They are last in the women’s league, last in the men’s league,” said former National Soccer League striker Andy Harper on Paramount Plus. “And it is worse than that. The men were last even before this weekend. They did not even go down to the last round to finish last.
“It is a complete and utter disaster.”
Originally published as Premiership winners Newcastle Jets crush Mariners 4-0 in F3 derby victory
