Perth Glory emerged as the nearest contender to the breakaway top six in the A-League with a 6-1 demolition of Newcastle at Hunter Stadium earlier this afternoon.
A Milos Trifunovic header in the 14th minute looked to have the Jets on their way to consecutive home wins, but after being pegged back by Chris Harold’s equaliser, Scott Miller’s men fell apart and their outing only got worse.
Newcastle fell behind soon after, then saw their captain Nigel Boogaard dismissed for a second bookable offence on the cusp of halftime.
That nightmare ending to the first-half only preceded the shambolic rest of the game, which saw Mark Birighitti’s goal breached a further four times – each strike perhaps more comically defended than the other.
WIN: A £50 voucher from Classic Football Shirts up for grabs!
Fragile Jets
After snapping a 10-game winless streak with a come from behind 3-1 home win last time out, many would have expected Newcastle to pull into another gear after Trifunovic’s 14th minute near post header.
The opposite happened.
The Glory grew into the game, scored a goal from nowhere, went onto dominate possession and then got themselves in front. If Scott Miller’s men are going to be the closest challenger to the top six this season, they must work on their resilience, as it was far too easy for Perth for the majority of this fixture.
It was an extremely concerning afternoon for the Jets and their supporters, following the high of last weekend.
Glory not missing Thwaite
There is sure to be some tougher assignments ahead for Kenny Lowe’s new centre-back pairing but Alex Grant and Aryn Williams performed admirably throughout this Sunday clash.
Following a spell of Newcastle pressure inside the first 15 minutes, this duo were at the centre of a rock-solid performance from the Glory – there was no way of telling Perth were missing one of their senior men, who’s departure should not be underestimated as this season reaches the latter stages.
In a stark contrast to the centre-half pair, at the opposite end of the park Boogaard saw a red card and Daniel Mullen recorded an own goal, so the purple and white combination should be very pleased with their afternoon’s work.
Glory the closest top-six contender
If Scott Miller’s honeymoon period in the League was not ended by their 10-game winless streak, it is most definitely over now.
His Jets were dismantled by a Glory side previously below them on the table and Kenny Lowe’s men are now evidently going from strength-to-strength following a gutsy, 2-2 draw at Melbourne City with a man down preceding this 6-1 shellacking.
With Perth’s top scorer from last season, Andy Keogh, nearly returned to full fitness and ready to complement the now free-scoring Diego Castro and Chris Harold at the pointy end – and Dino Djulbic on his way back from serious injury to slide in at the back – Glory supporters should be optimistic as the Westerners enter the business end of the campaign in a rich vein of form.
Outside90 Player of the Year
3 Chris Harold
2 Diego Castro
1 Mitchell Oxborrow
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
