Branko teaches Jason the art of winning

Newcastle coach Branko Culina earned family bragging rights over his son Jason with
a 1-0 win at EnergyAustralia on Sunday, obliterating Gold Coast's bold aim of an
unbeaten inaugural A-League campaign.
An opportunistic 40th minute goal to bustling young striker Sean Rooney earned
Newcastle their second win in four games and denied Gold Coast maximum points for
the first time in their brief history.
Rooney, 20, celebrated his first A-League start by beating Gold Coast goalkeeper
Scott Higgins with a fierce drive inside the custodian's near post from 12 metres
out and wide on the left.
The Queensland club showed little of the attacking panache and finesse which brought
them 10 goals in their first three games.
While they enjoyed almost 60 per cent of possession and looked the more likely team
to score before Rooney's strike, they created few clear cut opportunities.
Skipper and midfielder Jason Culina toiled hard for little reward and prolific
striker Shane Smeltz was also well held by a hardworking Newcastle team who shut
down the visitors' space at every opportunity.
Culina Snr didn't want to divulge the details of his game-plan but clearly closing
down the Coast, and particularly his son, who he described as "by far the best
footballer in the country" was a pivotal part.
"Every time he (Jason) gets the ball it's quality, he doesn't lose the ball too
easily, so we put pressure on him," Branko Culina told reporters.
"If you put pressure on the supplier, the guy at the other end is going to have
difficulty".
Jason Culina paid credit to his father's ability to analyse the game.
"Obviously he's watched us in the last three games, hasn't he, and he's come up with
a plan to stop us and it worked for him today," Jason told reporters.
"Dad studies games intensely and he works hard at it."
Rather than returning to the Gold Coast, Jason was going to be driven back to Sydney
by his father so he could catch a flight from that city to link up with the
Socceroos for their game against South Korea in Seoul later this week.
"Are there any trains that go to Sydney?" Jason joked.
Gold Coast coach Miron Bleiberg claimed everyone would be happy that his team had
finally lost a game after his side's stated intention to go through their first
season unbeaten.
"The FFA admitted Gold Coast United to bring some colour and some excitement to the
A-League, so you know how many people are happy today?" Bleiberg joked.
He declared that, rather than reduce pressure on his team, the loss would have the
opposite effect.
"From our point of view now, the pressure is increasing because we play Sydney next
game at home at we want to win it even more than we wanted to win it before, because
we lost today," Bleiberg told reporters.
He expects other teams to duplicate Newcastle's tactics.
"Every team that we play against probably will do the same tactics so it's up to us
to improve our penetration," Bleiberg said.
Newcastle's win was soured slightly by a torn Achilles injury to Shaun Ontong and a
strained groin to Italian midfielder and marquee player Fabio Vignaroli, who was
replaced at halftime.
Rooney troubled Gold Coast with his direct play while midfielders Jin Hyung Song and
Kaz Patafta were also impressive.
Veteran defender Angelo Costanzo came off the bench to play his 300th Australian
club fixture.