IT was goals galore for both the Brisbane Roar and Newcastle Jets in last week’s A-League pre-season matches and the next stop for the two sides is Coffs Harbour!

The Brisbane Roar put on a five goal masterclass against the Central Coast Mariners whilst the Newcastle Jets shared a six goal thriller with A-league newbies Macarthur FC at Maitland Stadium.

The Roar now face the Jets on 12 December at CEX Stadium, Coffs Harbour and recent fixtures are anything to go by, it’s going to rain goals.

In their match against Macarthur FC, the Newcastle Jets opened the scoring through trialist centre forward Val Yuel.

Yuel’s electric pace and dazzling stepovers were a constant headache to the MacArthur backline and are set to wow the crowds on the Coffs Coast.

Macarthur’s Matt Derbyshire then scored twice to fire up the Jets for a second half onslaught of attacks.

The Jets were finally rewarded from a corner kick which Nigel Boogaard finished from close range.

MacArthur then responded to go 3-2 up through Moudi Najjar, before the Jets stepped up the intensity again, creating a flurry of chances.

There was a big cheer around the stadium when the Jets introduced 19-year-old Lucas Mauragis who made an instant impact with his pace and skill on the left wing.

Mauragis almost scored with his first touch, and ten minutes later the talented teenager made no mistake, firing home to even the scoreline once again.

It looked like the Jets may have secured a late winner on 88 minutes the Jets put the ball in the back of the net, but celebrations were cut short as the referee disallowed the goal for offside and the game finished 3-3.

Football fans on the Coffs Coast have been looking forward to the return of A-League football since June 2016 where the Newcastle Jets played Melbourne City.

The match up is shaping up to be a goal fest, featuring two teams who are scoring goals for fun, and this bodes well for the two and half thousand lucky fans at CEX Stadium on 12 December.

 

By David WIGLEY