Wanderers can almost smell finals

TWO goals from skipper Robbie Cornthwaite have helped put Western Sydney Wanderers in sight of guaranteed finals football with a 3-0 win over Newcastle.

The Jets created the better chances in the first half of yesterday’s Round 25 A-League game at McDonald Jones Stadium before the Wanderers made the most of theirs in the 40th and 42nd minutes.

Cornthwaite wrong-footed goalkeeper Jack Duncan with a header off a Nicolas Martinez cross to score before Jaushua Sotirio finished a well-worked free-kick move.

Jack Clisby hit a short ball to the right to Jumpei Kusukami, whose touch inside found an unmarked Sotirio.

His strike went through the legs of Duncan for 2-0.

In the 50th minute, Cornthwaite beat Nigel Boogaard in the air again to score with a header, this time off a Martinez corner. With two rounds to play, the Wanderers’ third win in a row lifted them to fifth place on 34 points, one point ahead of Perth, who drew with Adelaide on Friday night.

Western Sydney are eight points clear of seventh-placed Wellington, who need to beat Melbourne Victory away today to have any chance of knocking the Wanderers out of the top six.

The loss was Newcastle’s fourth in a row and dropped them to ninth on 22 points, behind Adelaide on goals.

The Jets’ frustrations were on show when assistant coach Clayton Zane launched a sideline spray at Andrew Hoole after he was substituted in the second half.