Newcastle United make the cup final and qualify for the Champions League

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http://www.a-league.com.au/default.aspx?s=...ay&id=21477

No fear as Jets fly into finalMonday, 18 February 2008

 

Newcastle coach Gary van Egmond believes his team was rewarded for positive football in its 'nerve-racking' 3-2 extra-time win over the Queensland Roar in Sunday night's preliminary final.

 

The Jets looked to have the match in the bag leading 1-0 until late in the contest courtesy of Matt Thompson's strike in the 40th minute. But a disallowed goal and three penalties threw the match into a spin.

 

The Jets had play pulled back when Joel Griffiths was adjudged to be offside just before Troy Hearfield stroked home in the 80th minute. Adam D'Appuzzo then gave away a penalty when he felled Simon Lynch in the box in the dying second of the match. Roar striker Reinaldo fired home to make it 1-1 and send the match into extra-time.

 

Newcastle controlled the 30-minute extra period and went 2-1 ahead when Griffiths also converted from the spot after Sasa Ogenovski was penalised for bringing down Jets livewire substitute Jin-Hyung Song.

 

The home side all but sealed the match when Tarek Elrich slammed home a screamer after a break down the right wing to make it 3-1 with 11 minutes of extra-time remaining.

 

But Queensland never gave up and clawed its way back into the grand final qualifier when Reinaldo netted his second penalty after Elrich impeded Michael Zullo in the area.

 

But the Jets held on in the remaining two minutes to record a memorable win and set up a derby grand final against arch rivals, the Central Coast Mariners on Sunday.

 

"It was a situation where we felt we weren't getting the rub of the green in the game and I basically said to the boys 'if it is going to change we have to be confident, you can't play with any fear'. Everyone has to get onto that ball, everyone had to want to be the person that is going to change the game," Van Egmond said.

 

"And I thought we were really good in extra-time; we didn't sit back, we actually looked to score the goal, we weren't content for it to go to penalties and you get your rewards out of football."

 

The Jets coach admitted his side had 'rode its luck' early on in the match when Queensland butchered three or four clear opportunities on goal, but he praised the mental strength of his players to keep their composure and stick to the game plan.

 

"We scrambled quite well but there was a couple of times where we had just a selection of pass or a mis-control, probably a bit of nerves early on, but we rode our luck, which was good in our case, but there is definitely areas we need to improve and we need to get better," van Egmond said.

 

"One of the things we talked about as a group this week was the fact that we felt we got bullied a little bit last week in the middle of the park and that wasn't going to happen tonight."

 

"But the way for this group to come back the way that they did just shows that they have a mental edge about them."

 

Van Egmond said he went through a roll-coaster ride of emotions on the sideline especially when the Roar equalised on the stroke of full-time, but said last year's finals appearance helped his team, particularly in extra-time.

 

"It was extremely nerve-racking – they have done extremely well tonight. To pull it out shows real mental fortitude about the team," he said.

 

"We have been in this situation before and we have had the help of hindsight and that was last year's preliminary final and playing away is a real daunting and difficult task to try and lift the players when it is extra-time, and to get a result when you are playing away. We had to make sure we were positive as we were in that period of extra-time, again I can't praise the boys highly enough."

 

Van Egmond also said the 'workman-like' attitude throughout the season had held the team in good stead in the finals.

 

"We get told we play a nice brand of football and that is always nice to hear from the media and the pundits out there but there is also a steely edge to this team this year," he said.

 

"That is something we have shown all through the season, in countless game we have played away from home, where we might not have dominated the game but we have come up trumps either getting a point or getting all three and I think those types of games have put us in good stead for this time of the year."

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And just for those that keep reading "jets" everywhere, they are united.

Newcastle United Jets