Jets soar through existential stormclouds to record famous ALW win
Saturday evening's Elimination Final could have been the last ALW game in Newcastle's history. But it wasn't. Instead, we got a different history, the promise of two games to come and a plea for more.
In theory, Saturday evening’s Elimination final against Western United could have been the last A-League Women game the Newcastle Jets ever played. 16 years of history ended on a cold, dark evening in Tarneit. But it won’t be. Instead, we got a different kind of historical evening and, after their 4-2 win, a guarantee of at least two more games, with the doleful hope that there will be many more beyond that continuing to burn in their hearts and minds.
As for the first time in their history, the Jets have won an A-League Women finals match. In their third attempt, with it all on the line, on the road against Western, the side from the Hunter found that extra gear and that reservoir of energy within themselves to run over the top of their foes and record a 4-2 extra-time win, setting up a two-legged semi-final meeting with Melbourne City that will commence in the Hunter next week.
It’s the kind of historic achievement that would be worthy of celebration without any kind of added stakes placed upon it, let alone under the foreboding sense of existential dread that looms over not just this group of players, but the club as a whole. Still without a new, permanent owner, there has yet to be any official confirmation from the four rival clubs propping them up – one of whom, funnily enough, is Western – that they will continue to fund their operations heading into 2024-25. League administrators have already nailed their colours to the mast in declaring they won’t step in to prop the club up.
Will the Jets team in the A-League Women still exist next season? Will the Jets themselves? Will the players, coaches, and support staff that all played their role in Saturday’s wins be looking for new jobs and ways to pay their bills soon? Maybe. With talks still ongoing with multiple bidders, the more likely scenario is that they’re eventually sold but given that this is Australian football, where fatalism remains the default, it can’t be ignored that there remains a not-insignificant risk the club could fold after this campaign.
Yet Ryan Campbell’s side found a way to put this in the background when the chips were down and, after 120 minutes of football, secured the win in Tarneit. A first-half brace from Sarina Bolden, a 101st go-ahead goal from Melina Ayres and a 113th sealer from Sophie Hoban went some way towards exorcising the demons from a 1-0 loss to Canberra in 2009, a 3-2 extra-time defeat against Sydney in 2018, or the 13 finals-less seasons of football that surrounded those moments.
They did so without having a consistent base to train out of all season, after weathering the severely limited resources that govern their ability to recruit and support their talent, after adapting to a midseason change in coaching when Gary van Egmond secured a move to China, and the navigating the elephant in the room that just won’t go away. Yes, a few calls went their way on Saturday — the circumstances behind Catherine Zimmerman’s disallowed goal that would have had United up 2-1 in the first half were curious — but that cannot minimise what’s been achieved.
And importantly, Campbell believes they sent another message as to why the club’s survival is so important for the region in doing so.
“It's massive,” he said. “[For] Newcastle, I know there were so many people that were so behind the team. For Newcastle, the Jets are something that we need as an area. There's so much love for football in the area.
“You can see with young players that are coming through as well. We've got an academy with heaps of girls that are on the edge of playing A-League.
“For these girls, they're doing the job of putting the club on the map and making sure that people know that it's a necessity to have the Newcastle Jets.
“I'm really proud of the girls, they just keep on turning up. They never complain. We're in a situation where even at training, we are using multiple training venues at the moment. We're going from one venue to another to train. The girls just get on with it and they do the best for the club and they do the best for the team and it's really admirable.”
In her first A-League Women season outside Victoria, injuries, that old nemesis of hers, haven’t allowed Ayres to contribute the way she would have liked this season. Yet cometh the hour, cometh one of the most clutch players the A-League Women has ever seen, scoring the goal that sent the Jets on their way and, really, driving a dagger through the heart of a fatiguing United’s resistance.
Indeed, one can only imagine what it would be like to be out there on the field, having run yourself into the ground in the previous exchanges, only to look up and see Ayres coming onto the field.
If it’s happening this season, you’ve already been tasked with the unenviable task of attempting to contain Bolden and then here comes this ruthless scoring machine, one whose instincts and ability to read the game means that, inevitably, she’s somewhere around you, finding pockets of space. Forget the sense of dread that swirls around the Jets right now, that’s nothing compared to how the defenders must feel when confronted with this one-two Jets punch.
“The girls fought so well and allowed us to do what we do at the top and Sarina came in and clutch again,” she said. “At the end the girls dug so deep. We knew what we wanted to do today and got the job done.
“I think this is the first win in a final series for Newcastle so that's unreal. I'm so happy to be proud of that part of the history. I came here wanting to do what we've done today and I just want to keep it rolling.
“We've had such great crowds and with all the things going, one thing certain is that we get people to watch us in Newy and the community supporting us. We go for coffee and stuff and people are wishing us good luck. It's a pretty awesome atmosphere and I'm stoked to be part of it.”
Now City awaits the Jets. The A-League’s richest club facing off with a side only kept alive through the benevolence of others. A team that, on their day, can play a brand of football that you can do almost nothing to stop – it’s hard to win games when you can’t get the ball.
But Campbell is relishing the opportunity.
“I'm really looking forward to it,” he said. “I think of all the teams in the league, Melbourne City is by far the best footballing team. The way they play football, I really respect [it]. My goal, as a club, is to play in a similar style to how they play.
“As much as we haven't got ahead of ourselves, we've sort of been speaking the last couple of weeks about, 'Hey, let's prepare that we can go and play Melbourne City and really give them a game'. I didn't feel like when we played them in Melbourne last time that we gave them enough of a game. I think we're a bit hesitant and on the back foot. We definitely are looking forward to the chance to do that.
“And if you want to win the competition, you got to beat the best teams anyway. Playing Sydney or Melbourne City, they're both really strong teams and they've got different strengths and weaknesses. For the girls, it’s just great to get a home semifinal next week in Maitland and then to travel down here and give it a go and see how we can go.”
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