Despite rare goals from Nikolai Topor-Stanley and Steven Ugarkovic, the Newcastle Jets have gone down to a clinical Perth Glory side 6-2 on Saturday evening at HBF Park in Perth.
Ernie Merrick made two changes from last weekend’s lineup as he handed Patrick Langlois his first Hyundai A-League start for the Jets, whilst Matthew Ridenton was also promoted to the starting side.
The Jets started brightly and thought they had taken the lead in the 11th minute when Jason Hoffman found the back of the net, but his header was correctly flagged for offside.
Diego Castro put the hosts in front in the 15th minute when he dispatched a freekick into the back of the net from 25 yards, but the visitors found themselves level in the 26th minute and it came from an unlikely source.
Dimi Petratos floated a freekick to the back post where Lachlan Jackson was able to head the ball back across goal, Matt Millar was then on hand to steer another header goalwards, before Topor-Stanley nodded the ball home from close range to bring the Jets level.
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Perth went back ahead in the 33rd minute after James Meredith was brought down in the box, with Neil Kilkenny making no mistake from the spot.
Hoffman went close to levelling the scores on the stroke of halftime but his deflected shot was kept out by Reddy as the hosts held a 2-1 advantage at the break.
The Glory came roaring out of the sheds in the 2nd half and extended their lead in the 46th minute when Joel Chianese rifled his shot past Glen Moss, but the Jets responded again and halved the deficit in the 51st minute through Ugarkovic.
Dimi Petratos found space on the edge of the Glory area, and threaded a perfect pass through to Ugarkovic who controlled and then calmly slotted the ball past Reddy to make the scoreline 3-2.
With the game in the balance, the Jets continued to push for another equaliser but it was Perth who found the next goal, this time with a huge slice of luck as Bruno Fornaroli’s shot cruelly deflected past a helpless Moss to make it 4-2 after 58 minutes.
Fornaroli then added his second in the 70th minute with a tidy finish from the edge of the area before Diego Castro finished the scoring in the 83rd minute with a curling effort that gave Moss no chance in the Newcastle goal.
The Jets now return home to host the Brisbane Roar on Saturday 28 December at McDonald Jones Stadium.
