The final game of our 2021/22 season comes this Thursday night as the Jets host Perth Glory in a knockout match where the winner will progress to the Australia Cup Round of 32, and the loser will miss out all together.
Our side tasted defeat in our last matchup with Central Coast and are needing to turn their fortunes around having only pulled off one win over our past five games.
After enduring a 16-game spell without a victory to their name, Perth managed to pull off one of the upsets of the season by defeating Melbourne City in their final regular season game and will be coming into this one hopeful of doing the same to our side.
Both sides went through the Play-off ordeal last season, and both experienced defeat and without Round of 32 action making this one even more important to the two clubs.
Here’s the full breakdown of Thursday night’s clash:
NEWCASTLE JETS V PERTH GLORY
Date: Thursday 12 May
Kick-off: 7:30pm
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium
How to Watch: 10Play
HEAD-TO-HEAD (IN THE CUP)
Played: 2
Jets: 0
Draws: 1
Glory: 1
CUP FOCUS
Since 2014 when the FFA Cup (now Australia Cup) was introduced, our side have struggled to form a decent run with our best result coming in 2019 where we proceeded to the quarter finals.
Prior to that, the furthest our team had progressed was the Round of 16 following numerous years of first round exits – two of which came at the hands of Perth Glory who defeated us in the first two editions of the Cup.
Conversely, our opponents also haven’t experienced the best Cup form in recent years either. Glory featured in the Final in the first two seasons, but lost both matches, and since then haven’t made it past the Round of 16.
After missing out on playing on the national Round of 32 stage last year thanks to a defeat in the play-off, both clubs will be eager for a victory to give their fans excitement for next season, and finish this campaign on a high.
RECENT DRAWS GALORE
Last time out against the Glory our side pulled off a huge victory at home scoring six goals against Perth’s one marking one of our biggest in history.
If you put that game to one side though, our recent history with Perth has been neck-and-neck with numerous draws experienced – however this time around in the Cup, draws aren’t possible.
Three of the past four matches have ended in a tie, and the two games before that finished as a 2-1 win – one for both teams highlighting the closeness between these two.
There’s good matchups all across the field, with the battle between the forwards one of the most intriguing. Bruno Fornaroli and Beka Mikeltadze are two of the better strkers in the league with the latter finishing second on the Golden Boot tally in his first season playing in Australia.
Although our side will come into this one as favourites, it’ll be a huge test nonetheless.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Lucas Mauragis (Newcastle Jets)
One of our young rising stars, Mauragis has featured often throughout the back half of the season, constantly proving as a threat on the left hand side of the field.
The 20-year-old from Canberra had a breakout season last campaign, and in 2021/22, has continued on playing 10 matches in the A-League, where he also added another goal to his tally as well as multiple assists.
From those 10 games, the youngster has created six chances, has only made two unsuccessful tackles, and has averaged over 90% passing accuracy across three of his past five games.
Whether he starts or comes off the bench, look for Mauragis to work his way into the game and make an impact.
Callum Timmins (Perth Glory)
He was the hero of the day in their last match when they defeated the Premiers, Melbourne City, scoring two wonderful goals to sink the league leaders.
The 22-year-old has scored three this season – all against Melbourne City – and has been instrumental to their young team’s efforts.
He’s created 14 chances across the season, won the majority of his duels leading his team in successful tackles made, and has successfully made 85% of his passes.
His battle this weekend with former Perth-man Brandon Wilson, and our engine Angus Thugate will be one to watch out for.
STATS & FACTS
As mentioned, recent history between our two sides is rather tight. In our past 10 matches, our Jets have only won twice, with Perth winning four and the rest being draws.
Over the course of the season though, our Jets have shone brighter scoring more than double Perth’s goals – 45 to 20 – however our defences have been the same having conceded exactly 43 goals each.
Jets are still at the top of the possession stats with an average of 57%, directly contrasting Perth’s of 48%, however our passing efforts are much closer with our Jets averaging 444 passes with a success rate of 84%, to the Glory’s 384 passes with a 83% success rate.
Defensively, Perth have made most clearances and possess a better tackling success rate than our Jets, however our team lead in interceptions, have won possession in the final third more, and have conceded less penalties with Glory conceded seven to our four.
Jason Hoffman missed last weekend’s F3 Derby due to injury, however if he returns this weekend, it’ll be for his 200th game in Jets colours.
There’s also an air of familiarity with these two teams, as Dane Ingham, Brandon Wilson and Riley Warland all square off with old teammates, against a side coached by a former Newcastle Jets captain, Ruben Zadkovich.
