Newcastle Jets 4-3 Central Coast Mariners: Petratos nets double in derby

The Newcastle Jets boosted their slim A-League finals chances with a thrilling 4-3 F3 derby win over the Central Coast Mariners in the A-League on Sunday.

Dimitri Petratos’ double lifted the Jets to a deserved win in wet conditions at McDonald Jones Stadium.

With Carl Robinson, who will take over as Jets head coach on Monday, watching on from the stands, Newcastle recorded just their third victory of the A-League season.

They remain bottom of the table with 10 regular-season games remaining, but are now nine points behind sixth-placed Brisbane Roar, who hold the last finals place.

Petratos’ powerful finish put them ahead before the attacker’s corner found Nikolai Topor-Stanley unmarked at the back post to make it 2-0.

Petratos made sure of it with a powerful finish! 

: @FOXFOOTBALL #NEWvCCM #F3Derby #ALeague #PlayFootball pic.twitter.com/FAPsrsIdes

— Hyundai A-League (@ALeague) February 9, 2020

However, Central Coast found a way back into the contest from two set-pieces either side of half-time as Ruon Tongyik and Jack Clisby headed home.

Another well-taken finish from Petratos restored the Jets’ lead before a Kim Eun-sun own goal and they survived late on despite Chris Harold’s fine strike on debut for the Mariners.

The Jets ended a two-game winless run against the Mariners and the victory was their sixth in the past eight meetings between the clubs.