There was a moment inside the final 10 minutes of Saturday's A-League pre-season match where Sydney FC coach Steve Corica looked across at the opposition bench and shared a wry smile with Newcastle Jets counterpart Ernie Merrick.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Corica had just seen his side spurn a golden chance to break the deadlock at Apex Oval and that frustrating lack of a final product was the tale of the game.
The contest finished at 0-0 but there was no shortage of excitement for the bumper crowd of 3800 at a dust-covered and blustery Dubbo.
The Jets had the best chance of the game but Socceroos forward Dimi Petratos smacked his penalty attempt into the upright early in the first half after Ryan McGowan had brought down Kaine Sheppard.
Milos Ninkovic missed a huge chance for the Sky Blues when he blazed wide when under little pressure on the edge of the area shortly after and the chances continued until the very final minute, when Newcastle's Steven Ugarkovic was played in but could only manage to hit the crossbar.
"We hit the post and the crossbar and a couple went just wide and I thought it was a good performance overall," Jets coach Merrick said.
"We've had a fairly hectic time of it and played Adelaide in Adelaide [in the FFA Cup on Tuesday] but the boys responded and came strong again at the end.
"We're very strong and very fit so we're happy with the hit-out and Sydney played well, too."
The lack of a goals was disappointing for both sets of players and the fans in attendance, but there was a huge amount of positives for both the Jets and Sky Blues.
None was as big as the impact the sides had on the region during the visit west, with the hordes of kids in attendance at the Jets:PLAY clinic on Friday and in the crowd on Saturday showing the popularity of the game.
The youngsters streamed on to the field post-game and few players were as popular as Rhyan Grant.
The Sydney FC and Socceroos defender hails from Canowindra originally while he also spent plenty of time in Bathurst before striking it with the Sky Blues.
"Being from a small town, if you got the chance to have a few players come out you'd be over the moon so it's nice to stay out here and have a chat, get some photos and autographs and catch up with some people I haven't seen for awhile.," he said.
Grant, playing at centre-back rather than his regular place on the right, was kept busy early as the Jets began brightly but Petratos failed to find the back of the net from a free-kick and the penalty on 15 minutes.
Ninkovic missed the Sky Blues' best chance in the first half and his side then dominated the second stanza. English striker Le Fondre created plenty of chances but the Jets' defence held firm while Luke Brattan also blazed over.
It seemed nothing would find the back of the net and that was proved true when three minutes into injury time Ugarkovic was put through in the box but his shot was always rising and clipped the crossbar on the way out.
