David Lowe: The Lowedown

Before any accusing fingers are waved in my direction, I must say that I was at AAMI Park on Friday night to do some research on Melbourne City and Adelaide, and this was a self-funded (well, I'll pay it off soon) trip to Melbourne, nothing like a politician’s fact-finding junket.

That's my story and I'm sticking solid.

Some things in life never change. Boys’ weekend debutant PT would have gladly paid $50 for a Melbourne City beanie on Friday night as his fresh No.1 haircut felt the bite of a chilly Melbourne evening.

Not 16 hours later he was purchasing a broad-brimmed straw number to protect his delicate scalp from the deceptively strong sun at Flemington.

You can rely on variety in Melbourne weather almost as consistently as you can Bruno Fornaroli finding the back of the net for Melbourne City.

Captain, talisman, and leading goalscorer, the nuggety Uruguayan seems to thrive on the sizeable chunk of responsibility he shoulders, and given Tim Cahill's absence from the team sheet, it was probably larger than usual.

No problems, though. A glorious first goal, followed by a rather fortuitous penalty at a crucial stage of the game. Bruno pulls out the "Panenka " (a soft chip down the centre of the goal) and Adelaide keeper Eugene Galekovic is left stranded on the deck.

The official crowd of just over 10,000 (I think they count the resident seagulls), take off in celebration, and the job is nearly done.

Suddenly Adelaide, a clear second-best to this point, despite hitting the woodwork twice in the first half, spring to life, and a late rally looms after Sergi Guardiola heads home a glorious cross from the left.

The search is short-lived. Former Jet Connor Chapman is at the forefront of a defence that deals pretty comfortably with whatever Adelaide throws at them.

I may have run into Connor (depending on whether a trip to the races is approved on a recovery day) and he seemed very bright and bubbly, and was enjoying the challenge of maintaining high standards at training, and his place in the starting side.

I also very nearly literally went shoulder to shoulder with the legendary Bruce McAvaney as we emerged from the terminal at Melbourne airport on the Friday afternoon.

The great host and finest athletics commentator of my generation was so close to hearing my impression of his pre-race build up to the 1987 100 metre men's final at the World Championships in Rome, it's not funny.

"Who is the fastest man on earth, the heavyweight championship, Johnson and (briefest of pauses) Lewis ..."

The words were on my lips, but I glanced across, Bruce was focused, looked a touch weary, has a huge week ahead, so I refrained, bottling what could have been a "special" moment.

But I digress, and with I believe very good reason.

On the professional dash back to the casino "home base" to catch as much of the Jets’ match with Sydney FC as possible, before watching the replay on Sunday morning, I suspected that a depleted Newcastle outfit would struggle to (a) apply enough pressure to disrupt Sydney, and (b) struggle to keep the ball if Sydney arrived with optimal attitude and a plan to press high.

Both were fully in place.

And once that was locked in, it was always going to be a struggle for the Jets to get a foothold in the contest, never mind conjure a victory. 

You can talk tactics, systems, formations and the like until you tie yourself in knots. Sometimes, indeed often, quality of opposition determines how the match will flow, and occasionally you just have to hang on, keep grinding, and take the odd chance that comes your way.

When that golden one fell to Steve Ugarkovic on the stroke of half-time, and he slotted just wide, you could see the simultaneous and unanimous dismay on the Jets’ bench, as they recognised how precious a moment had just been spurned.

It would be a massive stretch to say that a goal then would have changed the course of the game, or even the psychology, but when you are down on troops, and against classy opponents, these moments are crucial.

Reverting to the theme of things that never change, Sydney captain Alex Brosque continued his prolific scoring record against the Jets in his first starting role for the season.

Milos Ninkovic got the other goal with a cool, composed finish, and those two names on the scoresheet say much about the edge in quality Sydney hold. Consider the bench of Carney, Simon and Dimitrejevic, and Bernie Ibini not even on the team sheet, and you get my drift, I hope.

Jets coach Mark Jones won't be happy with how often his team turned the ball over, and will work hard on keeping possession in future matches, but one loss against good opponents is no cause for panic.

No matter how positive your outlook, the growing injury toll must be a concern, particularly with a testing trip to Wellington this weekend, followed by a five-day turnaround game away against Melbourne City on Thursday next week.

A realistic pundit probably wouldn't be too disappointed with a two-point return from the upcoming road trip, and anything more would be a real bonus I'd reckon.

So, all that remains is for me to tip you the winner of today's big race, and it will come from numbers 8, 12, 13, and 20. Unless of course it rains, then it's 2, 8, 11. 

Clear as mud, really! Have a great day.