A big weekend of football was had for Unite Round that saw a mixed bag of results for Brisbane Roar with the Isuzu UTE A-League squad managing to break a four-game losing streak but the Liberty A-League squad suffering a narrow defeat.
Brisbane Roar’s Isuzu UTE A-League Men returned to the winner’s circle with a thrilling come from behind 3-2 victory over Newcastle Jets at Allianz Stadium on Sunday night.
Jay O’Shea’s 90th minute penalty sealed the points after Roar clawed their way back into the contest through goals from the Irishman and Jonas Markovski.
The Jets started the stronger of the two sides and took the lead in the 18th minute when Apolostolos Stamatelopolous turned a Daniel Stynes cutback into the bottom corner with a first-time finish.
Stamatelopolous’ strike proved to the be only goal of a first half that saw a Trent Buhagiar goal and Brisbane Roar penalty both overruled by VAR.
Roar drew level in the 61st minute through O’Shea who drove through the heart of the Jets defence before slamming a finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.
However, the Roar’s parity was short lived after Phillip Cancar reacted quickest to a defensive error to poke home on the end of a Jets corner.
Substitute, Markovski drew Roar level in the 82nd minute when bundled a Tom Aldred nod down into the back of the net on the end of an Alex Parsons corner for what was his first A-League goal.
Markovski then won Roar a penalty in the 90th minute when his cross was handled by Dane Ingham before the resulting spot kick was coolly dispatched by O’Shea.
O’Shea’s second half brace takes him to six goals for the 2023/24 season, the Irishman is the Roar’s leading scorer so far this campaign.
Sunday’s victory sees Roar climb to eighth on the A-League ladder and within a point of fourth placed Central Coast Mariners.
The Roar are back in Brisbane on Thursday night when they go up against Macarthur at Suncorp Stadium.
