The Newcastle Jets have drawn 2-2 with Perth Glory in a drama-charged game at Members Equity Stadium this evening.
The Newcastle Jets have drawn 2-2 with Perth Glory in a drama-charged game at Members Equity Stadium this evening.
After dominating large portions of the game and holding the lead for the majority, the Jets succumbed to an injury-time penalty to Eugene Dadi to come away from Western Australia with a share of the spoils.
Things began brightly for the visitors when star striker Joel Griffiths opened the scoring on 17 minutes. After some superb lead-up play by Jin-Hyung Song and Tarek Elrich, Jobe Wheelhouse played Griffiths through on goal and the striker made no mistake with a delightful angled finish.
However, it would only take the Glory ten minutes to find the reply through Nikita Rukavytsya. After a loose ball from the back by goalkeeper Ante Covic, Perth skipper Jamie Coyne laid the ball to Rukavytsya who slammed his left-footed strike into the back of the net from the edge of the area.
There was no denying the Jets were on-top throughout the opening stanza though, and their control over the midfield was evident, with shots on goal to Song and Griffiths failing to regain the Jets the lead.
That changed a minute out from the half-time break through the dynamic Elrich, who burst onto a delightful through-ball from Olyroo skipper Mark Milligan. Elrich controlled the ball on his chest before calmly slotting the ball beyond Glory ‘keeper Tando Velaphi to give the visitors a well deserved lead.
The second half would be filled with controversy, two red cards, and an injury-time leveller in an extraordinary final 45 minutes of football.
Perth-s captain Coyne was the first to be given his marching orders after diving into a challenge from behind on Song. Some nine minutes later, both teams would be down to 10-men when Jets- defender Daniel Piorkowski was shown red for a lunging challenge on Adriano Pellegrino.
The Glory had arguably the better of the second half exchanges but it seemed that they would go without reward for their endeavour. That was until the 89th minute when Adrian Trinidad was adjudged to have been brought down inside the area by Newcastle captain Jade North.
Dadi stepped up and levelled matters from the spot at the second time of asking, after his first attempt was waved away for Glory players encroaching inside the box. It was Dadi-s fifth goal of the campaign, and a dagger to the hearts of the travelling Jets.
Jets- Head coach Gary van Egmond was understandably disappointed that his team let the lead slip away in the dying moments of the game, but was philosophical after the dust had settled.
“It-s just real frustrating that you-re so close to getting a result and you concede a penalty right at the end there,” he explained.
The Jets will now look to make the most of next weekend-s FIFA Match Day break, before taking on the Wellington Phoenix on Sunday, 23 November at Westpac Stadium.
Match Details:
Perth Glory Squad. 30. Tando VELAPHI, 2, Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 4. Jamie COYNE (c), 5. Jamie HARNWELL, 6. Dino DJULBIC, 7. Nick RIZZO (9. Adrian TRINIDAD 77-), 13. Nikita RUKAVYTSYA, 16. Adriano PELLEGRINO, 17. James DOWNEY (14. Eugene DADI 58-), 19. Naum SEKULOVSKI (11. Scott BULLOCH 43-), 22. Wayne SRHOJ
Unused substitutes: 20. Frank JURIC (gk)
Yellow cards: Naum Sekulovski 28-
Red cards: Jamie Coyne 59-
Newcastle Jets Squad. 1. Ante COVIC (gk), 2. Adam GRIFFITHS, 3. Jade NORTH (c), 8. Matt THOMPSON, 9. Joel GRIFFITHS, 10. Jin-Hyung SONG (7. Kaz PATAFTA 88-), 11. Tarek ELRICH, 12. Jobe WHEELHOUSE (14. Shaun ONTONG 72-), 13. Adam D-APUZZO, 25. Daniel PIORKOWSKI, 26. Mark MILLIGAN.
Unused substitutes: 20. Ben Kennedy (gk), 27. Jesse PINTO
Yellow cards: Jobe Wheelhouse 7-, Adam D-Apuzzo 36-, Mark Milligan 39-, Adam Griffiths 83-
Red cards: Daniel Piorkowski 68-
Perth Glory: 2 (Rukavytsya 27-, Dadi (pen) 90+2-)
Newcastle Jets: 2 (J. Griffiths 17-, Elrich 44-)
Crowd: 7,837
Referee: Matthew Breeze
