Carle joins exhilarating victory from world away

THE NEWCASTLE HERALD

By BRETT KEEBLE


WATCHING on pay-TV from the other side of the world, former Jets wonder boy Nick Carle could not bear to watch the gripping last minutes of yesterday's grand final.

Carle, who won the Johnny Warren Medal with the Jets as A-League player of the year last season, leapt from his lounge-room chair in the Midlands region of England when friend and former teammate Mark Bridge broke the nil-all deadlock in the 64th minute.

The 26-year-old Socceroos midfielder, who now plays for Bristol City in the second-flight English Championship, then battled nerves like every other Newcastle fan as the Jets withstood a desperate Central Coast rally to secure the silverware.

"What a game. I had my heart in my mouth until the last minute, and I'm really, really happy for all of the boys," Carle told The Herald from his Bristol home.

"I was really nervous throughout the whole game, then I was worried the ref [Mark Shield] was going to award a penalty to the Mariners at the end there, but thankfully he didn't because the boys really deserved it.

"They were the better team on the night and played the better football."

Mariners players and fans were livid when Shield did not see the ball hit the arm of Jets rookie James Holland from a last-gasp Central Coast corner.

Carle sent congratulatory text messages to Bridge, Marston medallist Andrew Durante and Matt Thompson immediately after the game.

"And I would have sent one to all the boys if I had their numbers in my phone," said Carle, who was up "bright and early" for the match, which kicked off at 6am English time.

"I would have loved to have been there. I would have loved to have jumped on a plane to come over there and watch it, then fly back here.

"The boys thoroughly deserve it, the fans thoroughly deserve it; all the people of Newcastle really deserve it because they've always stuck by the boys.

"They just said on the TV commentary that they're the youngest group in the A-League so what an achievement for them."

Carle left Newcastle in the off-season to further his career in Europe first at Turkish club Genclerbirligi and then Bristol in a $1.3 million deal but has continued to support the Jets while overseas.

"I'm absolutely stoked for them," he said. "They're the A-League champions, and now they can look forward to representing Newcastle and the A-League in Asia."

Carle also had cause of his own to be excited yesterday after Bristol moved into line for Premier League promotion with a 2-1 away win over Colchester.

---

Article Source http://theherald.yourguide.com.au/news/sport/soccer/carle-joins-exhilarating-victory-from-world-away/1189202.html