Newcastle Jets win Hahn Australia Cup 2025 with 3-1 victory over Heidelberg United

The Newcastle Jets are Hahn Australia Cup 2025 Winners, defeating Heidelberg United 3-1 after extra time at Lakeside Stadium in Melbourne to lift the Cup trophy for the first time.

It was an exhilarating 120 minutes that kept the audience enraptured throughout. In the end, it was a quality strike from teenage academy product Oscar Fryer, and a sealer to Ben Gibson in extra time that won the game for the Jets.

Ryan Lethlean and Max Burgess were the first-half scorers from Heidelberg and Newcastle respectively.

Heidelberg United made one change from their semi-final victory over Auckland FC, replacing Sabit Ngor – who has returned to his parent club the Central Coast Mariners – with the 24-year-old Jay McGowan.

Newcastle were forced into two changes, with Alex Badolato away with the CommBank Young Socceroos and Max Cooper unavailable through illness. They were replaced by Aleksander Susnjar and Will Dobson.

The game started at a blindingly fast pace. Asahi Yokokawa had an early shot for Heidelberg that had to be blocked strongly by Newcastle, before a subsequent penalty shout was waved away.

The home side opened the scoring in the 8th minute. A free kick found the head of Ben Collins, who put it back in the mixer. Ryan Lethlean was there with a strong header past James Delianov to give the NPL Victoria champions the early advantage.

The match remained free flowing and open after the goal. Both teams had chances, with the Jets growing into the half.

They found their breakthrough in the 21st minute. Max Burgess played it forward to Thomas Aquilina. Aquilina expertly held up his pass, waiting for Burgess to arrive at the perfect time. His finish took a deflection off a defender and landed perfectly into the bottom corner of the net.

The flow of chances began to slow after the equaliser, giving way to a physical and even contest. Susnjar and Jauch were both shown yellow cards as neither team took a backwards step.

The game settled into a rhythm. The Jets dominated possession while Heidelberg, particularly through the pace of Jauch, looked to create opportunities in transition.

Newcastle came closest to taking the lead before half-time when Susnjar’s header hit side netting after a corner. Despite their best efforts, scores remained level at the break.

The second half started similarly to the first, at a rate of knots. The visitors looked the more likely to score in the first part of the half but Heidelberg remained a threat in transition.

The first changes for both teams came just after the hour mark, as the coaching staff looked for fresh legs to break the deadlock. Chok Dau was introduced for Heidelberg, while Ben Gibson and Lachlan Bayliss were substituted on for Newcastle.

Opportunities kept coming for both sides. Moments after Bertoncello came inches away from scoring for the Jets up one end, Yokokawa missed a fantastic chance up the other.

The game began to resemble a back-and-forth basketball game. One team would attack, the ball would go back to the middle, and the other would immediately launch an attacking foray of their own.

Somehow, the scores remained level at the end of 90 minutes, and the game needed extra time to be decided.

The goal that broke the deadlock was always going to be special – and so it proved. 19-year-old Newcastle academy product Oscar Fryer found himself on the edge of the penalty area. His rocket of a shot landed perfectly into the top corner of the net and, for the first time in this year’s Hahn Australia Cup, Heidelberg United trailed.

Heidelberg temporarily had a player advantage when Kosta Grozos was dismissed for two quickfire yellow card offences. However, only moments later, it became ten against ten when substitute Johnny Apostolopoulos was shown a red card for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity.

Ben Gibson scored the sealer in the 115th minute to win Newcastle's first trophy since 2008.

Match Summary

Heidelberg United: 1 (14. Ryan Lethlean 8’)
Newcastle Jets: 3 (14. Max Burgess 21’, 25. Oscar Fryer 96’, 11. Ben Gibson 115')

Heidelberg United: 1. Yaren Sozer (GK), 3. Benjamin Collins, 4. Jamal Ali, 6. Anthony Lesiotis, 7. Fletcher Fulton, 8. Mohamed Aidara (27. Akiel Raffie 68’), 9. Bul Juach, 10. Asahi Yokokawa (18. Anthony Theodoropoulos 111'), 14. Ryan Lethlean (13. Johnny Apostolopoulos 106'), 17. Jay McGowan (19. Peter Klaasen 86'), 20. Max Bisetto (15. Chok Dau 62’)

Unused Substitutes: 22. Ryan Govan (GK), 12. Dalibor Markovic

Yellow Cards: 9. Bul Juach 33’, 7. Fletcher Fulton 69’, 14. Ryan Lethlean 99’
Red Cards: 13. Johnny Apostolopoulos 113'

Newcastle Jets: 1. James Delianov, 9. Lachlan Rose (11. Ben Gibson 63’), 14. Max Burgess (45. Christian Bracco 76’), 15. Aleksander Susnjar, 17. Kosta Grozos, 18. Kota Mizunuma (24. Alex Nunes 86'), 23. Daniel Wilmering (41. Lucas Scicluna 106'), 28. Will Dobson (8. Lachlan Bayliss 63’), 33. Mark Natta, 39. Thomas Aquilina, 43. Xavier Bertoncello (25. Oscar Fryer 76’)

Unused Substitutes: 40. Jordan Baylis (GK)

Yellow Cards: 27. Aleksander Susnjar 27’, 39. Thomas Aquilina 100’, 11. Ben Gibson 105+1’, 17. Kosta Grozos 108'
Red Cards: 17. Kosta Grozos 112'