Daniel Stynes, take a bow.
In a weekend full of cracking goals in the Isuzu UTE A-League which will certainly feature on highlight reels for the rest of the campaign, Stynes saved his nomination for goal of the season right to the end.
Newcastle Jets found themselves behind in Ballarat against Western United, after a stunning strike of his own from Lachie Wales gave the reigning champions the lead.
The visitors needed a response and Stynes answered the call.
And the 24-year-old midfielder did it in style with a ripping strike from the edge of the area, cutting inside onto his right foot and firing an unstoppable curling effort past Jamie Young to bring the scores level.
It was nothing short of a peach of a strike and he had the celebration to match – paying homage to Italian great and 2006 FIFA Men’s World Cup winner Luca Toni.
The strike was one not akin to Toni’s best traits during his hay-day, but it was one that exemplified Stynes’ enormous ability – something that has been shown in spates during his tenures at Perth Glory and at Newcastle since arriving this season.
“I had one before that, that dribbled to the keeper and then I thought ‘you know what, I’ll cut in again and have another crack’,” Stynes told Paramount+ post-game.
Me and ‘Hoffy’ (Jason Hoffman) and (Jordan) Elsey were talking about it before that you needed to hit it a little bit outside the post because of the wind. So I had a crack and it went in.
“So yeah, grateful but just wish we got three points.”
And it was the aforementioned blustery conditions in Ballarat – which caused havoc on the day – that helped Stynes to perfection.
Even Wales, whose earlier strike was overshadowed by the equaliser. chimed in with the praise for Stynes’ goal at half-time.
“Yeah it was not a bad one (Wales’ goal) but young ‘Stynesy’ did me at other end, I think!” Wales told Paramount+.
Stynes’ strike gave the Jets a deserved equaliser based on the balance of chances in the opening 20 minutes and they could have easily kicked ahead as the half wore on with more opportunities falling Arthur Papas’ side’s way.
Their luck of cutting edge ultimately came back to haunt them, along with failing to make the most of their numerical advantage in the second-half after Western defender Jacob Tratt was sent-off late in the contest.
“We want to be an aggressive attacking team and I think that was evident tonight,” Stynes said.
“We had a lot of chances. We had a lot of shots on goal. And yeah, look, it’s just one of those games. They’re a good team too, last year’s champions.
“In the end, it’s disappointing that we didn’t get the three points but at least we didn’t lose.”
