KEY POINTS:
Knights 1 Jets 1
The New Zealand Knights picked up a point, or more to the point, denied Newcastle Jets the maximum return as they played out a draw at North Harbour Stadium last night.
As they did four weeks earlier at the same ground when they
beat Queensland Roar 1-0, the Knights showed they might still prove to be more than nuisance value for teams chasing higher Hyundai A-League aspirations in the run to the end of round-robin play on January 21.
Knights goalkeeper Mark Paston turned in a zero to hero performance as the home side picked up their first draw since their 0-0 effort, also against the Jets, at North Harbour in August.
Badly caught in no-man's land as Joel Griffiths chipped him from wide out in the 13th minute, Paston redeemed himself with two crucial saves to deny Milton Rodrigues either side of halftime. The first was with his foot, the second a reflex tip away for a corner.
Forced to again re-jig, stand-in Knights coach Barry Simmonds would have taken some satisfaction from the first point he has picked up since taking over from Paul Nevin. But for long periods, particularly in the first half, he surely would have been looking for more from his players.
Seemingly content just to soak up anything the visitors threw at them, the Knights were too often left with little midfield impetus and a big gap between an over-crowded defence and the two-man strikeforce of Neil Emblen and Alen Marcina.
With that wealth of midfield possession, it was hardly surprising the Jets cashed in. The ball was played wide to Griffiths, who had plenty of space between him and Dean Gordon as the closest defender.
Paston hesitated and Griffiths deftly chipped from long range, much to the home team's embarrassment.
Vaughan Coveny had a chance to double the lead within five minutes when he got by Darren Bazeley but his shot on the run was flicked away by Paston.
The game was locked up in the 29th minute when, from a Bazeley freekick, Jade North handled the ball. Referee O'Leary, on receiving the nod from his assistant, pointed to the spot and Marcina wasted no time in burying the Knights' first penalty of the season.
Encouraged, the Knights picked up their game, pressed forward and created half chances - but not the finish needed to test Ivan Necevski in the Newcastle goal.
Jonti Richter had one such opportunity but rather than taking his time, shot on sight and cleared everything.
Newcastle, fresh from their upset 1-0 win over runaway leaders Melbourne Victory (that from a 60th-minute Rodrigues strike), produced periods of class football but they too suffered with hesitant play in the attacking third.
They forced six corners to three but, again, rarely threatened.
The Knights, behind 10-17 in attempts on goal, had a golden chance early in the second spell when Dustin Wells got wide and deep, turned and crossed the ball in one neat move but, anticipating well, Necevski just beat Marcina to the ball and what would have been a simple tap in.
Nicky Carle, again impressive in the Newcastle midfield, set up Griffiths with a good ball midway through the spell but he was wide and the game was left to run its course.
Simmonds allowed new signing Leilei Gao a five-minute cameo appearance late in the game, his only substitution. Former Chinese international Li Yan has to wait to debut - perhaps in Adelaide next Sunday.
Adelaide is followed by another difficult task in Melbourne before a 12-day break, then the last four games of the season, including home games against Queensland and Perth.
