Melbourne Victory held to draw by dominant Newcastle Jets
The Hunter Stadium was again an unhappy hunting ground for Melbourne Victory, whose A-League Premier's Plate ambitions have all but dissolved after a stalemate with Newcastle Jets left them 11 points adrift of leaders Sydney FC.
The Jets reaped no reward from their dominant display on Monday night, but took a point to lift them back into the top six and in the hunt for a first finals berth in seven seasons.
Kevin Muscat had challenged his second-placed Victory side to perform at a ground he said lacked a big-crowd atmosphere.
But in the rescheduled clash in front of 6,233 spectators, a harried Victory were outplayed in attack and can be thankful their lower-placed opponents often lacked gloss on the final ball.
Not that the Jets were afraid to have a crack from outside the box, taking shot after shot that failed to find the target, one way or another.
Amid countless turnovers, the closest the hosts came before the break was when Nick Ansell, retained in Victory's central defence despite James Donachie's return from suspension, stretched out a toe to clear a Jason Hoffman cross from the path of an onrushing Morten Nordstrand but nearly diverted the ball into his own net.
Victory failed to penetrate and, try as the effervescent James Troisi did to ignite something, the Jets rarely found themselves under real pressure.
How the hosts did not bury a second-half winner beggared belief.
Hoole, who'd pleased the sparse crowd with a cute pirouette to swindle three defenders, had the game's best opportunity when he was set up by Andrew Nabbout and drew a fine save from Lawrence Thomas before he sent a volley wide of a beckoning open goal.
By the time Daniel Georgievski hit the woodwork against the run of play, and a sliding Nigel Boogaard dispossessed Besart Berisha in the box, there was a feeling of highway robbery about the final 15 minutes.
But though the hosts endured a nervy end -- including an unsuccessful Victory penalty shout and a fumble from goalkeeper Jack Duncan -- they held their opponents to their ninth winless game in 10 outings at the venue.
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