Victory manage another draw

Melbourne has fought back from a 2-0 half-time deficit to claim a
2-2 draw against the Newcastle Jets at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Friday.

Defender Adam Griffiths notched his first goal for Newcastle and Stuart Musialik scored a long-range stunner to give the hosts a 2-0 advantage at the break, before an Archie Thompson header and a late goal from substitute Adrian Caceres squared the ledger.

The reigning premiers are still looking for their first win of the 2007/08 Hyundai A-League season, having begun their campaign with five straight draws, while the point ensures Newcastle will remain in second place on the ladder for another week.

Melbourne striker Danny Allsopp was sidelined because of a rib injury while Jets midfielder Jobe Wheelhouse was out of action with an Achilles problem.

The opener came four minutes into the contest from an Adam D'Apuzzo corner, with Andrew Durante flicking on a header for Adam Griffiths who made no mistake from point blank range.

Newcastle continued to pepper the Victory's goal, with a through pass from Durante sliding just out of reach of a charging Joel Griffiths before Jets midfielder Denni fired wide from distance.

The home side stretched further ahead with a stunning strike from Musialik, with the central midfielder dribbling towards goal before slamming a 20-metre shot past a diving Michael Theoklitos and into the left corner.

Both teams traded chances late in the half but the Victory went into the break with a mountain to climb.

The Jets came close to making it three after the break when Mark Bridge controlled the ball 25 metres out and sent a thunderous drive at Theoklitos, who managed to parry the ball over the bar.

But the Victory hit back in the 65th minute when Thompson ran on to a perfect cross from Leandro and coolly headed past Covic.

Both sides scrambled well in defence with the game in the balance, with Theoklitos doing well to punch away a searching centre from Durante before Jade North cut out a Leandro low cross at the other end of the park.

Joel Griffiths had a clear chance to seal the win when Bridge put his fellow striker one-on-one with Theoklitos, but Griffiths' shot didn’t get past the 'keeper's outstretched arm.

The home crowd's chants of 'Super Mario' were answered when striker
Mario Jardel came off the bench for the final 10 minutes, but it was Melbourne substitute Caceres who stole the show, breaking clear on the left before slotting past Covic at the near post.

Newcastle United Jets 2 (A. Griffiths 4, Musialik 21)
Melbourne Victory 2 (Thompson 65, Caceres 83)
Crowd: 11, 179 at EnergyAustralia Stadium.