A wet night greeted both teams at Energy Australia Stadium for a match which for the majority lacked spark as both teams struggled to find their feet on the greasy but excellent surface despite the rain.
It was nervous start by NSL debutant Jamah Williams in the Kingz goal as he struggled to negotiate any of the early crosses sent across by United. Damien Brown had the first chance of the match when he forced a save from Williams with a strong shot on goal after some skilful lead up between Middleby and Masi.
The match showed little spark until Mitchell Johnson opened his seasons account with a brilliant goal. A Masi pass in the 33rd minute found Johnson 25 metres out and loosely marked he simply turned and shot into the top corner of the far post. Williams had no chance as the shot would have beat any keeper in any league.
The Kingz then found some attacking form only 4 minutes after conceding and a Burton cross found Kingz marksman Heremaia Ngata who pushed the header wide. The Kingz again almost drew level again in the 42nd minute as there was a mix up between Newcastle defender Craig Deans and custodian John Perosh. The back passed drifted just wide of the goal and from the resulting corner Perosh came up with what looked like a serious leg injury.
The injury would have sent butterflies through the stomach of back up keeper Ben Kennedy fresh from a 3 day trial at the AIS. But Perosh played through until the interval where no doubt he received some intensive treatment.
The second half threatened to be a flat affair with initially United not looking positive, happy to control the midfield and take the three points. Then the 55th saw Damien Brown make a run down the right and whip the ball across to find Deans unmarked who headed home his first goal for Newcastle and they took a match sealing 2-0 advantage.
Greg Owens was a late substitution for Newcastle and he set out to impress. The 85th minute saw him charge forward just to see his shot hit the far upright and the resulting rebound cleared by the Kingz defence. Newcastle United coach Ian Crook said he was happy with the last 3 weeks form with 7 points gained from the matches.