ALM MATCH REPORT: Jets dominate the ball but fall 2-1 to Perth Glory at HBF Park

Our Newcastle Jets have been defeated 2-1 by Perth Glory in Western Australia on Saturday night.

Perth made the brighter start at HBF Park, with Cher Deng’s header from Lachlan Jackson’s through ball saved by James Delianov in the third minute.

Tadiwanashe Kuzamba was shown a yellow card for Perth in the fifth minute, and Daniel Wilmering followed for the Jets two minutes later. Deng headed narrowly wide from a corner in the 12th minute before Jaiden Kucharski had two efforts from range, one blocked and one missing to the left.

The Jets then settled and took control of the ball. Vergos sent a shot from outside the box wide in the 18th minute, before a corner in the 23rd minute brought a flurry of chances: Alex Grant’s header was saved by Daniel Solsky, Wood hit the right post from very close range, and Wood then fired the follow-up high and wide.

The pressure continued through the half. Wood was denied by Solsky from the right side of the six-yard box in the 30th minute, Joe Shaughnessy and Burgess both sent efforts off target from a corner, and Vergos had a left-footed shot saved in the 35th minute.

Perth made it count in the 39th minute. Kucharski took Sebastian Despotovski’s pass and drove a right-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom left corner. Half-time came with the Jets trailing 1-0 despite having had most of the ball.

Mark Milligan made a double change at the break, with Zach Clough replacing Xavier Bertoncello and Zane Schreiber coming on for Alex Badolato, but Perth struck almost straight away. Kucharski doubled the hosts’ lead in the 48th minute, drilling another right-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom left corner after Sam Sutton’s pass.

The Jets responded with plenty of pressure, with Vergos and Grant both seeing efforts blocked inside the box in the opening ten minutes of the half. Kucharski was replaced by Sebastian Kukucka in the 57th minute, and Perth made two further changes just past the hour.

Milligan answered with a triple change in the 63rd minute, sending on Joel Bertolissio, Julian Recchia and Will Dobson for Grant, Wood and Joe Lolley. Burgess tested Solsky from range in the 74th minute, and Dobson saw a shot from the centre of the box slip just wide of the right post.

The Jets got their reward in stoppage time. Wilmering delivered, and Vergos finished from very close range into the bottom right corner to make it 2-1 in the 92nd minute. Despite continuing to press, the Jets could not find an equaliser before the final whistle.

On a positive note, Nikos Vergos’s stoppage-time finish gave us a lifeline, and the way the Jets kept pushing right to the end is something to build on. The volume of pressure was there, and with a little more sharpness in the final third the outcome could look different. Perth deserve credit for making their chances count, and the head-to-head record still favours the hosts, but this was a performance with plenty of positives to take forward as the Jets look to bounce back.

The Jets are back in action on Saturday 12 December, travelling to AAMI Park to face Melbourne Victory with a 7:40pm local kick-off, in a meeting between two sides still chasing their first win of the season.