Angus Thurgate strikes as Jets upset United for first A-League win of season

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:19 am

Newcastle Jets delivered a mighty upset to secure their first A-League win of the season, defeating Western United 1-0 in Geelong.

Newcastle deservedly took the lead after 36 minutes through 19-year-old striker Angus Thurgate and while United grew into the game, they were unable to find a response at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday.

United were bolstered by Besart Berisha's return, while Josh Risdon made it back from international duty in time to start, but Panagiotis Kone was missing with a hamstring injury.

In Kone's absence United struggled to control the midfield, with industrious Newcastle duo Steven Ugarkovic and Ben Kantarovski keeping the Jets ticking over.

On a number of occasions the bustling Jets were able to win possession and create a numerical advantage on the counter -- only to stumble at the final hurdle with poor decisions going forward.

Angus Thurgate struck as Newcastle Jets stunned Western United.
Graham Denholm/Getty Images

Scott McDonald was impressive for United early, consistently drifting into dangerous positions and creating a couple of good chances while Alessandro Diamanti was typically dynamic on the ball.

But Newcastle's Thurgate came closest to opening the scoring in the 31st minute when his skidding shot just inside the box forced a difficult diving save from Filip Kurto.

Five minutes later, it would be Thurgate who broke the deadlock. Matt Millar found Thurgate, who showed some terrific hold-up play to one-touch the ball to Dimi Petratos and continue his run. Petratos fed a well-weighted ball back through to Thurgate, who slid a delightful finish past Kurto for his second career A-League goal.

United were better in the second half, with Diamanti consistently threatening to equalise, but he was unable to find the back of the net.

Risdon looked to have equalised in the 70th minute when Diamanti cut inside the left flank onto his right foot and sent a curling ball to the back post for the defender to head home, but the goal was ruled out after a VAR review showed Berisha had been offside in the build-up.

From there, the Jets would hold on for a gutsy victory.