Eli Adams has inspired the Newcastle Jets to the ultimate smash-and-grab win, scoring twice in a 2-1 A-League Men victory over Macarthur.
Adams’ four-minute double represented Newcastle’s only two shots on target throughout the entirety of a 90 minutes in which Macarthur had all the running in front of 3,809 fans at Campbelltown Sports Stadium on Friday.
But the Bulls were left to rue their wastefulness in front of goal as they failed to build on last week’s 6-1 win over Perth.
French import Valere Germain had a chance to tie things up with a 90th minute penalty but Jets’ No. 1 Ryan Scott went the right way to hold on for a victory.
"I felt we were a bit complacent and I'll take responsibility for that," said Macarthur coach Mile Sterjovski.
"The first half... we didn't get in the game and Newcastle were a lot hungrier than us.
"Last week was a good performance - one of the best I've seen at this club - maybe we thought it was going to come easy."
Macarthur’s frustrations spilled over after fulltime with assistant coach Christophe Gamel shown a red card by referee Tim Danaskos following a post-game melee sparked by Newcastle's Dane Ingham.
Sterjovski said: "There was a lot of people pushing and shoving but I don't where it all started."
Jets coach Rob Stanton said his side had been keen to show they wouldn't be intimidated by anybody in the ALM.
"There were some choice words and that happens with players when emotions are high," Stanton said.
'It's not a good look but players are upset and they might say a few words and it becomes a problem, hopefully it's not an issue."
Macarthur only had themselves to blame for the defeat after beginning with promise and taking a 19th minute lead.
Winger Jed Drew made an incisive run down the right flank and was able to thread a pass to Marin Jakolis, who finished at the back post.
Drew had a shot cleared off the line by Thomas Aquilina early in the second half and the Bulls’ inefficiency in front of goal proved costly.
The Jets barely had a sniff up until this point but they found an opening down the right when Macarthur turned the ball over cheaply inside their own half.
Adams was quick to latch onto the loose ball and zoomed into the Macarthur box leaving Matt Jurman in his wake before cooly slotting past Filip Kurto for a 56th minute equaliser.
Clearly emboldened by their goal, Newcastle went looking for more and they only had to wait four minutes to take the lead.
A direct ball was played long to Ben Gibson and the forward was able to hold up the play and find an on-rushing Adams, who added his second from the edge of the box.
"I'm not sure the last time he completed 90 minutes," Stanton said of Adams.
"It's hard to be a good player if you're not consistently playing and I'm not surprised he got those two goals, that'll give him a boost."
Germain had a chance to square the game up at the death but Scott saved and the Jets hung on for a valuable win on the road.
