Fire up, Jets!

"Put me in the away bay," I told the bloke at Ticketek. And he did - right in the middle of The Squadron, the most fanatical supporters of the Newcastle Jets. Right in the middle of the giant, home-made flags and the face paint and the amusing Premier League-inspired songs.

Though drunkeness and disorder abounded, the atmosphere was 99% positive. With the passionate Novocastrians around me, I stood tall for all of both halves, singing, clapping and whistling until it hurt. (The cold wind didn't help.)

Those who care will already know the result - Sydney FC defeated us 2-1. While we floundered in the first half, the boys fought back hard in the second and Rodriguez (our scorer) was a headband-wearing hero off the bench as usual.

This was only the first leg of the final. So if we can win, say, 1-0 in Newie, our away goal will make the difference. I think that's a possibility. The crowd at Aussie was a lame 21k - there'll be 5-10k more at Energy Australia next week.

Finally, I have to say I'm really starting to dislike SFC's Brosque - and not just because he found the back of our net. Repeated borderline challenges, a dubious "injury" at a very convenient time and blatant swearing at the referee. He was lucky to only receive a yellow card.