JETS trialist Valentino Yuel showed why caretaker coach Craig Deans started him and why club boss Lawrie McKinna wants him to stay around in what was an entertaining 3-all draw with A-League newcomers Macarthur at Maitland Sportsground on Thursday.
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Playing up front alongside experienced campaigner Roy O'Donovan, Yuel looked dangerous with the ball, asked the visitors plenty of questions and scored Newcastle's opening goal late in the first half.
Yuel has yet to officially sign with the Jets for 2020-21, waiting for new owners to rubber stamp a potential deal, but the 26-year-old stated his case out in the middle during the pre-season fixture.
"Val's been here for three weeks now and he's trained well so he deserved the chance to start this game," Deans told the Newcastle Herald.
"Obviously he scored a nice goal and contributed a fair bit to the performance as well.
"He's got some areas to improve, which he's super happy to work on.
"We'll just keep looking at him for another couple of weeks and hopefully he continues like he is."
Yuel, who joined the Jets from Western United, turned at the top of the 18-yard box and slotted home with his right foot to put Newcastle ahead 1-0 in the 40th minute.
The Jets conceded just before the main break, equalised twice in the second stanza and had a winner disallowed for offside with two minutes and 47 seconds left on the clock.
Deans left his side unchanged for most of the match, only introducing substitutes in the closing 20 minutes, and said there were "encouraging signs".
"We obviously wanted to win the game and on balance we probably created more chances to score, but we probably weren't as clinical as we need to be," Deans said.
"It was our second proper game and we've got another four games to go in the pre-season. Plenty to work on but plenty of encouraging signs."
Matt Derbyshire landed a double for Macarthur either side of half-time, the first from a header and the second finishing a sharp counter attack, to give them a 2-1 advantage by the hour mark.
Newcastle captain Nigel Boogaard replied just after three-quarter time, putting a header on Ramy Najjarine's pinpoint cross.
Less than three minutes later Moudi Najjar put the Bulls in front for a second time after Jets goalkeeper Jack Duncan, who made back-to-back saves in the first half, was drawn out by a through ball.
Newcastle youngster Lucas Mauragis, who came off the bench, then levelled proceedings in the 82nd minute. Maki Petratos made the back-post delivery.
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IN THE NEWS:
Josh Callinan
My name is Josh Callinan and I'm a sports journalist at the Newcastle Herald. I started with the newspaper in 2016 after a decade at the Maitland Mercury.
My name is Josh Callinan and I'm a sports journalist at the Newcastle Herald. I started with the newspaper in 2016 after a decade at the Maitland Mercury.
