IT was an all-too familiar story for the Newcastle Jets.
They dominated large periods against the Melbourne Victory but had to settle for a 1-all draw at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday night.
Dito against Western Sydney Wanderers at Bankwest Stadium the week before.
While disappointed with the results in his opening two games, coach Carl Robinson has no doubts the Jets are headed in the right direction.
"You have to keep at them, keep improving, keep working with them and eventually it turns," he said."When it does turn, you get the rewards."
The Jets set the tempo from the outset against Victory.
Most impressive was their hustle. They defended as a unit, were first to the ball and pressed high up the pitch.
When in possession, they played out of tight areas, found space in transition and on the occasions they turned the pill over, they worked hard to win it back.
Victory barely got a foot on the ball in the first half.
Bobby Burns did a solid job on Andrew Nabbout and Marcos Rojas was rarely sighted.
Jets duo Steve Ugarkovic and Angus Thurgate controlled the midfield, giving Dimi Petratos time and space to work his magic.
After having two goals disallowed in the opening 15 minutes, one after a lead-up pass deflected off the referee, Roy O'Donovan put the Jets ahead in the 25th minute.
Roy the boy! Our Irishman scores his first goal for the Club (his 21st in total) since his return to put us into the lead! #NEWvMVC#ALeague#MadeOfNewcastlepic.twitter.com/neBtYbY9CJ
— NEWCASTLE JETS FC ✈️ (@NewcastleJetsFC) February 22, 2020
Again Petratos was the provider, whipping in a low cross for the Irishman to stab home off the underside of the bar - a goal that was confirmed by the VAR.
Abdiel Arroyo had a shout for a penalty turned down and Petratos swung a corner in that beat keeper Lawrence Thomas but not the crossbar.
It was one-way traffic.
However, all the good work and all the pressure was undone inside five minutes of the second half.
Tim Hoogland was given time on the ball inside the Jets' half and the German curled an inch-perfect cross for an untracked Ola Toivonen who ghosted between two defenders and headed home.
"[Victory coach] Carlos Salvachua made an adjustment at half-time and pressed us slightly differently," Robinson said.
"Sometimes you give the opposition coach credit. It was a great delivery into the box and a good goal by Toivonen. But, from a defensive point of view, we should stop that. There was not enough pressure on the ball, we left a man who is very good in the box free and he scores.
"When you do that, it deflates you a little bit. We lost our way for 10 minutes then we regained it.
"We have to find ways. When they change, we have to change. And we did, but it took us 20 minutes. In that period they scored their goal.
"I can't fault the boys' effort. It was terrific. It is little moments in games where we didn't have enough quality.
"It has been a frustrating season, for the majority of the season, for the guys.
"But when they perform like that you can't fault the players. We will get back to work on Monday and build on the two very good performances."
