Western Sydney Wanderers coach Mark Rudan has again been left ruing his side's inability to convert their chances after they suffered a 1-0 loss to the Newcastle Jets.
Despite dominating on the stat sheet with twelve shots to three over the first half at McDonald Jones Stadium on Wednesday, Rudan's side were unable to find a way past Jets' keeper Jack Duncan as Ramy Najjarine and Adama Traore both spurned gilt-edged chances.
Kejiro Ogawa had a strike disallowed for offside in the 50th minute, a decision that Rudan questioned post-game.
But his Wanderers side were made to pay for their profligacy 10 minutes later when Daniel Penha found Angus Thurgate for the game's only goal.
The away side would continue to push to try to find a way back into the contest but, increasingly confident, the Jets were able to hold out.
"Really disappointing, we should have been at least a couple up at halftime," said Rudan.
"I thought they were fantastic in the first half but if you don't take your chances you apply pressure to yourself.
"I thought we started brightly in the second half but we gave away probably their best chance and then we concede
"We kept going for it but disappointed about the result, really disappointed."
With the win, the Jets have now leapfrogged the Wanderers into eighth position on the ALM ladder and will now face Macarthur on Saturday with another opportunity to close the gap on the top-six.
Arthur Papas' side grew into Wednesday's win as the game progressed, but their coach expressed his frustration with what he perceived to be a haphazard start.
"We didn't get on top of the game enough, didn't control the ball enough, our distances where we had the ball were too far apart," Papas said.
"I think we lacked a bit of intent to go forward as well.
"We had a good 20-minute period and that's probably the difference, that we actually capitalised on it."
Wanderers will host Rudan's former side Wellington on Sunday, and the coach is determined to continue the rebuild project in Sydney's west.
"It's a big club. A proud club," he said. "And I know exactly what needs to be done moving forward.
"I don't care about names. You either shape up or ship out. I'm not going to take anyone that's going to go through the motions and pick up a pay cheque."
