The Newcastle Jets suffered heartbreak in their opening home fixture as Ben Kantarovski blasted a late spectacular own goal to gift Melbourne Heart a 1-1 draw at Energy Australia Stadium.
In a highly entertaining affair the Jets had much better of the play but come away with only one point from a game they deserved more. The opening moments see ex Jet Matt Thomson receives the boos from the crowd with his first touch of the ball.
It's the Jets who create the first chance, Jesic on the edge of the area fires a goal bound effort that Bolton does well to save, Clint Bolton then dives on the loose ball as Ali Abbas is about to tap in. On 10 minutes Heart have their first opportunity, an Abbas hand ball has Sibon blasting a 25 meter dipping free kick that Kennedy is forced to save.
Sibon is close again shortly after as he heads a Kalmer cross just wide of the upright. On 15 minutes Abbas finds Brockie who races to the by-line he is able to turn back and his cross finds Bridge whose shot has Bolton diving low to his left to save.
The defining moments come in the following 15 minutes of the game, as the Jets create a number of chances , they can easily wrap this game up, Brockie's through pass has Jesic through on goal with only the keeper to beat, his goal bound shot has Bolton getting a important touch which sends the ball just past the upright. The resultant Jesic corner has Zadkovich heading narrowly wide.
The Jets have all the running , Abbas puts Brockie through on goal he races away to be one on one with Bolton but his shot is straight at Bolton , the ball spills to Jesic who gives the ball away. A Colosimo hand ball gives the Jets a free kick outside the penalty area, Jesic finds Bridges who gets in a good header but its over the cross bar.
The Heart do well to survive this period and look dangerous themselves as Terra beautifully turns Topor-Stanley but as he fires for goal Kantarovski has sensed the danger well and is in place to block the shot. As the half time break approaches Terra turns on the pace to round Milicevic who has to rugby tackle Terra to stop him.
Sadly no card is shown for a poor foul . From the Heffernan free kick Kalman rises to head goal bound but Kennedy produces a finger tip save to touch the ball over the cross bar. An enjoyable half ends 0-0.
The second half begins controversially Bridges is clearly brought down by Heffernan in the penalty area but referee Ryan Shepherd amazingly gives Bridges a yellow card for diving. On 54 minutes a Jesic corner has Topor-Stanley racing in to get a header in but its wide.
On the hour a Kantarovski through ball has Brockie clear on the wing he cuts back inside of Heffernan and fires in a close range shot, its 1-0 Jets. The crowd are buzzing it looks like a winning home start as the Jets dominate possession but.
On 79 minutes a Worm through ball has Terra and Marrone racing for the ball along with Zadkovich and Kantarovski, Zadkovich gets a foot in and the ball rolls to Kantarovski who attempts to kick the ball out, unfortunately for the home fans it ends up in the net, it's the Hearts first goal in A-League history.
The goal stuns the home fans as well as the home players, the Jets fail to deliver a killer move in the final minutes and it ends 1-1.