Perth Glory 0–4 Newcastle Jets
By Kris Goman.
After the weekend of upsets, who knows what to expect from this game. We’re at Dorrien Gardens to watch this bottom of the table match. On paper you’d have to put your money on the Jets but it has been a strange weekend.
Glory kick off. The first ten minutes sees Perth with the bulk of possession but unable to get out of their defensive half very often due to the Jets’ continued high press.
Newcastle get one long range strike on goal that goes wide before Glory construct an attack from the left. Taneesha Baker gets the ball in the box on the full and high but she can’t control the volley and it’s headed away before she can strike.
Liz Anton gets a yellow for a foul tackle on Lauren Allen. Taren King takes the free kick and sends it cross field to Tiana Jaber. She lobs it into the box and Allen runs onto it in free space with just Lily Alfeld to beat in the Perth goal. The keeper blocks the shot but Allen still has possession and gets past on the left in front of the open goal. The defence recover by the time she has it under control and it goes back to the right to Tara Andrews, whose shot is blocked. It rebounds and is scooped up by Alfeld. How the Jets didn’t score then is not clear but the Glory did a great job of scrambling their defence.
Sunny Franco took a nice run down the left that was looking dangerous until Sarah Carroll cleared out with a magnificent sliding tackle.
From a goal clearance, it comes to Hana Lowry who puts a lovely ball out to Caitlin Doeglas on the left wing. She brings it in but her shot is deflected out by Tessa Tamplin into the left side of the net.
Shortly after, Andrews releases Franco again and she’s off down the left towards an unobstructed goal with only the keeper to beat. Her shot just dribbles towards Alfeld and she must have topped the ball or something as it presented no challenge to Alfeld at all. Another chance goes begging for the Jets.
At 24 minutes in, Cassidy Davis takes a power shot from the top of the box. Alfeld nearly gets a hand to it and it hits the crossbar. It bounces down and then back up and hits the crossbar again before it’s cleared by the Glory. The ref declares it’s not a goal despite the Jets protests. There’s no cameras to say otherwise. Jets have been very unlucky not to score three times so far.
A corner for the Jets also results in a scramble in front of goal that is eventually bundled up by Alfeld.
Finally, at 28 minutes the ball is stolen from the Glory. Andrews sends the ball out to the right to Allen who crosses it back in to Rhianna Pollicina who gets a clean jab at it to send it past Alfeld’s outstretched arms for a long deserved Newcastle goal.
Franco and Deborah-Ann De La Harpe are starting to get a bit pushy with each other after De La Harpe got away with pushing Franco over earlier. Franco is clearly out for revenge and it’s starting to get interesting. Soon after, Jaber comes in from behind and knocks over Alexia Moreno. De La Harpe pushes away Pollicina who’s checking she is OK.
Seconds later Chloe O’Brien slams Lowry to the ground then immediately after, Moreno takes down Jaber with a sliding tackle. She finally gets a yellow for that but it looks like tempers are flaring right now. Someone will get sent off soon if this continues.
At 36 minutes, a ball comes through on the right for Franco who’s been staying high. She takes one touch then slams it past the keeper. No mistakes here at all and Franco gets her first goal of the season for Newcastle.
Just before half time, the Jets get a corner which is taken short. It goes to O’Brien then back to Pollicina who lobs it to Andrews. She heads towards goal but it’s tipped over the crossbar by Alfeld in a very close call.
In the second half, Jets kick off and we’re back into the Glory’s defensive half which is where all the territory has been. Tamplin delivers a ball from the right into the box. Marianna Tabain tries to kick it away but she shanks it and it bounces with considerable spin, right in front of Franco who heads it past Alfeld for her second and Jets third goal.
A little later, Doeglas takes the ball down the left flank for Glory. Malia Steinmetz, who came on at half-time, connects with her cross and slams it towards the bottom right corner. A heroic dive by Claire Coelho saves it from going in and it’s cleared successfully.
Glory seem to be stepping up their attack a bit now and Moreno gets a ball back to Lowry who takes a crack just outside the box on the right. It goes over the crossbar but Perth are finally showing a bit more spunk.
The last fifteen minutes have felt a lot more even with the ball up and down the field and both teams getting reasonable possession. There’s been a couple of runs onto each box but nothing particularly threatening. Perth are doing better than before in this half despite the early goal.
There’s another tussle and Jaber knocks Tash Rigby to the ground. She gets up and joins in again and this time Franco pushes her over. Glory gets the decision. Rigby isn’t happy about there being no card given but walks away before she says something she regrets.
At 75 minutes, Bass replaces Franco so she won’t get the opportunity for a hat-trick – or a red card.
A lob towards goal by Anton from quite a way out is fumbled by Coelho. She eventually gathers it but sub Jamie-Lee Gale is right there but she can’t kick it without hurting Coelho.
Patricia Charalambous weaves a ball through the centre and sends a lovely pass out to the left to Doeglas but her cross back fails to connect with anyone.
It’s straight back the other end and Sophie Harding takes a shot that goes across the face of goal and out on the right.
At 82 minutes, Coelho sends a very long ball down field. It bounces over Glory’s last line of defence and is picked up by Harding. The defence have recovered but it bounced across to Allen in the middle of the box. She takes control and rolls it past Alfeld and it’s in for the Jets fourth goal.
Newcastle haven’t looked as dangerous this half but they’ve taken their chances when they’ve been presented and this was a case of that.
In a last ditch attempt, Rigby brings the ball down the left. Her looping cross is too high for Charalambous to connect with despite a big jump.
There’s three minutes of extra time. Lowry gets a cross over to Charalambous who’s positioned by the left post. Her kick goes across the face of goal and no one else is there to tap it in.
The match ends with Newcastle deserving the win despite a second half rally by Glory and it sends the Jets ahead of Melbourne City on the table. Neither of these teams will be in contention for the finals but they both are still trying to move up the table.
Sunny Franco got player of the match with her two goals.
Teams: PERTH GLORY: Alfeld, De La Harpe, Rigby, Carroll, Anton, Tabain, Baker, McKenna, Lowry, Doeglas, Moreno. Substitutes: Bennett (GK), Gale, Morgan, Steinmetz, Charalambous.
NEWCASTLE JETS: Coelho, Tamplin, Jaber, King, Brewer, Davis, O’Brien, Pollicina, Andrews, Allan, Franco. Substitutes: Simonsen (GK), Bass, Petratos, Harding.
Scorers: Pollicina 29. Franco 36, 47. Allen 83.
Referee: Rachel Mitchenson.
Attendance: 310.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GD | |
| Sydney FC | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 10 | 24 | +14 |
| Brisbane Roar | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 22 | 10 | 19 | +12 |
| Adelaide United | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 13 | 19 | +3 |
| Melbourne Victory | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 12 | 17 | +5 |
| Canberra United | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 14 | 15 | +3 |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 10 | -9 |
| Newcastle Jets | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 16 | 7 | -2 |
| Melbourne City | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 18 | 4 | -11 |
| Perth Glory | 7 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 19 | 1 | -15 |
Top four sides qualify for the finals at the end of the regular season.
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