R1 vs Newcastle Jets | Sun 21st Oct | 5:00pm | Westpac Stadium

Shove on Nichols<Shove on Williams<Shove on Taylor.  Which one is penalised?  Yep, the nothing one.

Nice one Nichols

wtf was that corner?

This has been a weird game, but we've played much better in the first half, after providing a solid foundation in the  first. We got what we were promised - a hard working, organised, structured team.

shark way to end. still a bit of the old nix there.

Much better in the second half?

A very good start for Kurto.  Promising signs.

Yeah sorry, second half :)

Petratos is a freakin' gun. Been threatening all day and he's finally got one with an absolute bullet. Not sure what Nichols was thinking with the airshot that gave them the turnover though...

That croud is why we need to see the end of 7pm Sunday games.

Said on Twitter, I have so much more faith in the defence already this year, with Taylor and Kurto (rather than a schoolboy) in goal.

Great stuff from the boys. Something about the psychology of the club, the the players and the fans seems to have changed with Rudan's arrival. I am almost shockingly optimistic about this season.

a lot of positives from that -havent looked that solid in ages  - Rufer had a great game 

Thought they got better as the game went. Need to take our chances better in front of goal.

what was the crowd number?

Croud was 9100+ and in good voice at the end

Apparently sharkty? I thought the PAX was 13000 and the lines were out the door?

Pretty hard to find too much to fault from me especially given my low expectations. Team hasn't had that much time to gel so I expect it will get more fluent, and the Jest are a good side. 

When the league becomes self governing can we ban stadium music and the VAR?

9174 according to Liam Hyslop

Happy with that result, If it wasn't for the jets goal we would be topping the table.

PAX is always higher than attendance, it includes life time and stadium passes.

If you don’t mind,,,,,  First was really Jumping Jack Taylor’s and Roy with the old ‘in of Mossy’s right hand’ tap in trick. Has me thinking the above prediction is pretty spot on thank you very much. 

Kopa left out of the squad due to fitness concerns from an injury two weeks ago, according to Rudan post-game.

We're winning the league, we're winning the leeaaaaguuue. FUCK OFF EARNIE, WE'RE WINNING THE LEAGUE

Man of the Match: Mark Rudan after Singh's goal got scratched by VAR

Thought Mandi and Rufer both impressive defensively, Mandi a few weeks away from being properly match fit. Not overly troubled defensively which is a good side but Kurto did everything right as well. Got  little annoyed with Fenton and Cacace over dribbling and passing it away but also both decent without the ball and got into good areas. Fenton should be on notice though, Elliot outstanding for the WeeNix.

We didn't show a lot of interest in passing through the middle, looked to be a tactical thing more than anything else. Loved how hard Krishna and Williams worked, although not a ton of chances created. All in all, if that's the starting point for the season we should have a decent year. 

What to say, at the end if the day, some cobwebs were blown out, and we got three points. 

Keeper looked good. Rufer got better and had done well by the end. Khrishna and Williams ran their legs off, Williams had a good second half. Khrishna is not a penalty taker. Music - Wtf was that about, idiots. Queues were very long, I avoided them. Was there only one Fritzs Weiner outlet - I never got to eat cos of that. First half was pretty dire football, some terrible control and terribly easy turnovers, quite pathetic really. Need to improve. But great entertainment by the end, VAR helped with that! 

Did Elliot play RWB for the WeeNix? Really interested to see if he can break his way through this season. May be a little early?

Think there is definitely an opportunity at RWB and LWB; I like Cacace, but don't think that role completely suits him. Fenton did well, but his lack of pace may be a factor in getting replaced later down the line.

Kumsuz also impressive off the bench for WeeNix and unlucky not to score.

Great to win!

DJ at set pieces was appalling !!

It's good to be back!

Hang the DJ

No more DJs anymore! (hat-tip The Stranglers)

great stuff! We never win first up (hat tip to the stats guru who proves me wrong) 

Good result to steady our nerves for the season. Watched the game with the YF ChCh Chapter at Horse & Jockey, it was nice to see they have Asahi on tap (their warm hospitality outweighs their conspicuous absence of craft beer).  Their pizza was good. The company was great. Will be back.

As for the game. I thought Ernie And The Jets genuinely underestimated us. They should have taken the game to us, because they had a good pre-season, fielded a good team and were properly match fit.  Petratos should be hanging his head in shame for not getting out of first gear all night. He had good opportunities and only took the one in the last minute of the game when they started panicking they might lose. It was a good strike from a distance and I do not think  Kurto had much of a chance.Petratos is a great player and needs a good partner upfront now that Nabout went off to Japan.  And I thought Ridenton put in a decent shift even if he eventually faded in the second half.

The Nix played well, for a team that has just recently been put together. Rudan must be rating Mandi highly, seeing as he was on the park with hardly any legs underneath him.  In contrast, I was pleasantly surprised by the solid performance and the amount of confidence shown by Louie Fenton despite his well-documented fragility in the past. While he was not a barnstormer tonight, he did enough as a RB to get a pass mark from me. Needs to do more upfront to be a genuine long-term contender for that position. I am happy for him, regardless of whether he keeps his spot or not, just to see him back after a long layoff.

I was going to reserve my judgment on Taylor until today, chiefly because I am usually suspicious of the misty-eyed love shown on this forum to anybody that has ever played in or near EPL.  However, I stand corrected on Taylor. I thought he was one of our best, if not the best, player tonight (for me it is a toss-up between Kurto, Krishna and Taylor).  Special mention from me is for Singh, for such young player he is excellent.

And hopefully Mark Rudan will finally come to understand that referees will never show us any special favours, even if we play at home. He just has to accept that we have win the league by being a better team by a mile. I like his heart, and hopefully the team will have the same quality.

I remember that goal and his wretched injury luck since

The first thing that Rudan said when he came to the club was that everything will always be against us, decisions will not go our way, etc. He understood it from the start.

That was a really encouraging performance, everyone worked their ass off in the match. Singh and Kristina's combination should only get better and Williams had a much better second half too. Fenton was pretty damn good for not having played at that level for some time. Goalkeeper was very solid as well.

Elliot was RW. They played a back four and he was high up the field.

It's going to be a race against the clock in regards to Calvin Harris. He's committed to Wake Forest in January.

A win at home to start may be good for that