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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
National
Renee Valentine

Katrina Gorry double sinks Jets in third straight A-League Women loss

Brisbane Roar celebrate the first of Katrina Gorry's match brace against Newcastle at No.2 Sportsground on Friday night. Picture by Marina Neil

Brisbane's Katrina Gorry produced two classy strikes in just her second A-League Women's appearance this season to seal a 2-0 victory over Newcastle at No.2 Sportsground on Friday night.

The Matildas midfielder scored with a stunning long-range effort in the 10th minute then ghosted into Newcastle's 18-yard-box unmarked in the 60th minute and found the back of the net from a tight angle.

The round-six loss was Newcastle's third in a row and came after heavy defeats to Melbourne City (5-1) and Melbourne Victory (5-2) in rounds four and five respectively.

The result elevated Brisbane, who had beaten the Jets 2-1 in Queensland in round one, into fourth position on 10 points and left the Jets floundering in ninth with just four points.

In a further blow for the Jets, American midfielder Murphy Agnew was stretchered from the field in obvious distress on half-time after a heavy collision with Roar goalkeeper Hensley Hancuff.

Jets midfielder Murphy Agnew is stretchered from the field before half-time against Brisbane at No.2 Sportsground on Friday night. Picture by Marina Neil

The first goal came after Newcastle did not deal with a Brisbane free kick and Gorry picked up the ball in a danger area, skipped around Lucy Johnson and fired a shot from the top of the box that beat shot-stopper Georgina Worth.

The second was from a Brisbane throw-in, deep in Jets territory. The ball bounced off the back of Jets left-back Cannon Clough and fell to Gorry, who beat a sliding Taren King then neatly chipped Worth.

Newcastle again created plenty of attacking opportunities and ended the game having had 18 shots compared to Roar's 10, with six on target.

Chicago Red Stars forward Sarah Griffith drove shots over the crossbar in the 53rd and 79th minutes.

Lauren Allan had a long-range effort parried away by Hancuff in the 66th minute and captain Cassidy Davis had multiple attempts denied as the Jets struggled to find a killer blow.

It was the first game this season in which they have not scored while Newcastle have now conceded a league-worst 16 goals in six games for a leaky average of three goals per game.

The match was meant to be the second of four in a hectic fortnight to end 2022 for Newcastle, but their round-seven clash with unbeaten newcomers Western United scheduled to be played on Wednesday night has been postponed due to predicted extreme heat in Melbourne.

The Jets' next game will now be when they host Adelaide United at No.2 Sportsground on New Year's Eve.

Newcastle's all-time leading scorer Tara Andrews was left out of the match-day squad due to illness while coach Ash Wilson made two changes to her starting line-up.

Experienced defender Teigen Allen replaced rising talent Leia Puxty in the backline while goalkeeper Georgina Worth was back for Claire Coelho after being benched for Newcastle's round-five clash.

In the other ALW game played on Friday night, Melbourne City downed Canberra 4-0 to join Western United and Adelaide on 12 points at the top of the table.

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