Lachie Rose’s first Isuzu UTE A-League goal in more than a year helped Newcastle Jets conquer Brisbane Roar 1-0 on Tuesday night.
Rose, who joined the Jets in the off-season, came off the bench to score the winning goal in within eight minutes of his introduction in the 74th minute as Newcastle won for just the third time in 2024-25 following a chaotic encounter.
It was a tense opening at Suncorp Stadium before the first half came to life via Newcastle.
The Jets nearly broke the deadlock approaching the half-hour mark after picking off Brisbane, who tried to play out from the back. Callum Timmins’ thunderous effort hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced on the line and away from danger. Replays were inconclusive as to whether the ball crossed the line in the 27th minute.
Thomas Aquilina found himself in a one-on-one situation but he was denied by Roar goalkeeper Macklin Freke as a great chance went begging
The match quickly became end-to-end as Jets attacker Eli Adams rattled the woodwork in the 38th minute.
Another chance was wasted by Newcastle seven minutes into the second half when Lachlan Bayliss saw his goal-bound effort blocked.
The Jets then had to weather a storm as the Roar generated some momentum in front of their fans.
First, Newcastle goalkeeper Ryan Scott palmed Samuel Klein’s effort over the crossbar after he dispossessed Timmins on the edge of the box in the 55th minute. Then, young gun Lucas Herrington hit the woodwork a minute later from the resulting corner.
On the hour, a first A-Leagues goal was staring Klein in the face as he headed just wide of the post.
Klein was in the thick of the action, with the 20-year-old this time forcing another save from Scott 22 minutes from the end.
Then Lachie Rose came off the bench to give the Jets the lead with 16 minutes remaining. Like last week, Aquilina delivered an inch-perfect ball across the six-yard box for his sliding Newcastle teammate to get on the end of.
Brisbane continued to push numbers forward in search of an equaliser as the Jets defended desperately to preserve their advantage.
