Newcastle crush Western Sydney 5-1 to send Wanderers season to it’s lowest ebb

The final whistle was a merciful release for the Wanderers, who have sunk to their lowest ebb courtesy of a 5-1 belting at the hands of Newcastle.

Vedran Janjetovic,GK for the Wanderers saves a penalty shot from Jason Hoffman of the Jets but Jason Hoffman kicks the goal from the rebound during the Round 17 A-League match between the Western Sydney Wanderers and the Newcastle Jets at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Friday, February 1, 2019. (AAP Image/Craig Golding) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

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By the end the final whistle was almost a merciful release, an act of kindness with enough misery endured.

Five times Western Sydney conceded at home to Newcastle, with just a solitary consolation mustered in reply, as their sinking season subsided even further.

On a sodden pitch the Wanderers looked and played as bedraggled as they have at any point in the past season and a half: shapeless, directionless and terminally confused.

“I was thinking we were a step higher than we showed today,” said Wanderers boss Markus Babbel. “To be fair, the first 10 minutes were in the game but then, I don’t know why but we didn’t follow the game plan.

The Jets smashed the Wanderers from the start. AAP Image/Craig Golding.

“The players had some good ideas and you saw the result. The Jets for me are one of the best teams in the league, but the way we defended a couple of times was a disaster.”

As Jets striker Roy O’Donovan converted a penalty for his second goal of the night, clutches of home fans began making for the exit, with more than half an hour to play.

Those who stayed had the meagre consolation of seeing new signing Mitchell Duke score with a header less than 20 seconds after entering the fray from the bench, but to call that a bright spot would be rather overstating its luminance.

By then the Jets were well clear, adapting infinitely better to horrible conditions where the ball stuck in puddles for most of the first hour.

It was a total demolition by the Jets. AAP Image/Craig Golding.

Newcastle made hay while the rain came down for their second win in three games but the realists among their fans will note the mini-revival is built on wins against the Mariners and Western Sydney, this season’s two most hapless teams.

“We’ve been threatening to score a lot of goals all season, we’ve made more chances than any other team, and it was a pleasure to see the boys get so much reward,” said Jets coach Ernie Merrick.

“We thought we could catch them in behind, we worked on it all week, and that’s exactly what we did. The players were impressed with that result.”

At least the Jets’ hopes of making the top six are still faintly alive, though they have an eight point gap and an inferior goal difference to make up on sixth spot. But they should be buoyed by the way they feasted on Western Sydney’s generous hospitality, from the moment in the 18th minute when Brendan Hamill’s wildly inaccurate pass was seized upon and the ball worked wide to Jason Hoffman.

The Jets easily could have had more goals. AAP Image/Craig Golding.

When the latter’s cross found Dimi Petratos at the far side of the penalty box, the Socceroo’s curling shot left goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic grasping at air.

Like death and taxes, more Jets goals inevitably followed. Hoffman stabbed home after Daniel Georgievski’s shot was blocked, then Marc Tokic was perhaps harshly adjudged to have fouled Ronald Vargas for the first penalty of the night. Janjetovic actually saved it, but O’Donovan turned in the rebound.

Janjetovic then added another error to his recent lowlights reel, missing a cross from Petratos completely to allow Matthew Ridenton the chance to tap in the fourth, and Tokic tripped Hoffman for allow O’Donovan the chance to score directly from the spot.

The Wanderers could only envy such riches and the next two and a half months look like purgatory. The priority now is to salvage something from this campaign, before the desperately awaited return to Parramatta Stadium becomes the biggest anticlimax imaginable.

NEWCASTLE JETS 5 (Dimitri Petratos 18m, Jason Hoffman 22m, Roy O’Donovan 45+2m, 59m pen, Matthew Ridenton 50m) bt WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS 1 (Mitchell Duke 69m) at ANZ Stadium. Crowd: 7,594. Referee: Peter Green.

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Originally published as Newcastle crush Western Sydney 5-1 to send Wanderers season to it’s lowest ebb