JACOB Lyttle best describes his memory of the first-ever experience of playing against the Newcastle Jets with two simple words.
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“The scar,” he said.
The Kempsey Saints shot-stopper came off second best in an accidental clash with Jets striker Roy O’Donovan on Tuesday night in Port Macquarie.
He kept O’Donovan goal-less in the first half despite the Jets 7-0 domination, but it wasn’t before he spilled some blood for the cause.
“I came out and dived down and it was his knee or his boot that got me straight on the top of the head,” Lyttle said.
“I was down for a little bit, but when I got back up the ref told me I was bleeding.
“I went to put my hat back on, but he said the blood was running down my neck so I had to go off.”
After some sideline running repairs that involved Vaseline and a bandage, Lyttle returned to the fray before he received three stitches in hospital on his return to Kempsey.
The 29-year-old said the experience of playing against the Jets was at “a completely different level to what we play”.
“They’re just everywhere; you don’t get time to think and get yourself ready for anything.”
The goalkeeper was hopeful the Jets would again return next year after he missed last year’s clash due to a torn quad muscle.
“I’d never played in front of a crowd that big; it was awesome the atmosphere there,” he said.
A crowd of 4200 witnessed the match – a slight increase on last year’s attendance of 4100.
Mid North Coast started well and didn't concede their first goal until the 14th minute.
Daniel Georgievski's left-footed strike from the edge of the area nestled in the bottom right corner which started a procession.
Jason Hoffman scored a hat-trick while captain Nigel Boogaard also found the back of the net twice.
Joey Champness was a constant threat on the left-hand side and scored a superb individual goal as the Jets took a 7-0 lead to the break.
At half-time, Ben Kantarovski, Boogaard, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Hoffman and Daniel Georgievski were substituted.
Port Macquarie’s Angus Thurgate entered the fray for the second 45 minutes.
He marked his return to his old stomping ground with a left-footed strike from the edge of the area that bulged in the back of the net.
Ivan Vujica rounded out the scoring in the 80th minute before Champness was substituted in the 82nd minute as a precaution after feeling tightness in his hamstring.
“There are no major issues for us, we're ready to go again and we'll have our full squad for the trip to Spain,” Zane said.
The Jets will head to Spain on July 24 for a two-week pre-season tour.
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