POINT Cook’s defence was broken down by the ‘one trick show’ of Lara in the Football Federation Victoria men’s state league 5 west.
The Jets returned with a 3-3 draw to keep their record unblemished after three games.
They are one of four teams with seven points and a share of top spot in the standings.
Jets coach Geoff Gillard was not happy with his team’s defensive approach on Saturday, which afforded the dangerous Lara strikers the chance to get in behind the last line and into dangerous positions because of the over-committing of his defenders.
“Our back four struggled with the two quick guys they had up front,” Gillard said.
“We committed a lot of the time to try and win the ball when we didn’t need to.
“Sometimes to win the ball, you don’t have to tackle the player, you’ve got to coral them into a position that gives you an advantage and at times we sort of over-committed and it played into their hands, where they were able to knock the ball past and use their speed to get in behind us.
“Unfortunately, they scored twice from that and the third one was from a penalty.”
The Jets were quickly trailing 3-1 with goal machine Joe Spiteri their goalscorer in that period.
The game changed its complexion 20 seconds before the half-time break when Emilio Lucanera rose to power the ball home with the head from a corner.
“That was really important for us,” Gillard said. The momentum carried over to the second half, the Jets produing waves of attack in the second half.
Spiteri would eventually get the Jets on level terms with a glancing header on 70 minutes.
The former Socceroo, who has proven impossible to stop at this level, peppered the Lara goal, only to be denied by some nifty goalkeeping.
“Their keeper pulled off what I class as two brilliant saves from his shots,” Gillard said.
“Any other day of the week, they would’ve gone in.”
Lucanera was the Jets best in the middle of the park, winning his personal battle and setting most of the attacking play.
Jamie Early produced a number of quality crosses from the right side of midfield.
Spiteri’s two goals gives him seven for the campaign.
The Jets will host Altona North in an all-west affair on Saturday at Saltwater Reserve.
