Perth Glory has finished its A-League season on a winning note with a 3-1 victory over semi-finals bound Newcastle Jets at EnergyAustralia Stadium. Despite the win the season is over the Glory, who finish the season in fifth place on 29 points.
The Jets slumped to their second straight defeat ahead of Friday's first leg minor semi-final against Central Coast Mariners in Newcastle. They have conceded 8 goals in their last 2 home games of the regular season.
Newcastle - who finished fourth on 31 points - will host the first leg of their minor semi-final against fiece rival the Central Coast Mariners next Friday night. They need to start scoring and fix their leaky defence if they are to continue in the semi-finals series.
The Jets lined up with a 4-4-2 formation Stuart Musualik replaced Richard Johnson who was out through suspension.
The Glory also lined with a 4-4-2 formation Stuart Young getting his only second start of the season and former youth international Ryan Townsend made his debut.
The game started brightly for the Jets - a Nick Carle one- two with Matt Thomson saw him on goal as early as the 2nd min but Jamie Harnwell cleared.
Perth hit the front after just eight minutes when Damian Mori fended off Allan Picken he found Bobby Despotovski who held the ball up for midfielder David Micevski, who thumped a shot into the crossbar before Nick Ward followed up to shot home the opener, 1-0 Perth.
The goal stung the Jets into action and they had the majority of possesion but it often came to an end with shallow crosses and poor shooting. In the 19 min Liam Reddy caught a Billy Celeski cross and released Ante Milicic who passed to Jade North only for his shot to go low and wide of the upright from outside the penalty area.
In the 25 min the Jets found somemore spark in attack - from there own penalty area Carle passed to Milicic who found Thomson who crossed found Coveny whose shot was blocked and Carle blasted his follow-up attempt wide.
In the 27 min Ward pass put Mori though he out runs Zelic but the ball goes out of play he he cuts it back.
The 32 min sees a Carle pass to Thomson who finds North his dangerous cross is cleared by Townsend.
The hosts then equalised in the 33 min from a Thompson corner, Carle getting a ball laid back by the head of Picken before bouncing in a shot from deep in the box that was flicked into the net by Coveny, its 1-1.
The 39 min saw Newcastle continued to dominate, with midfielder Stuart Musialik getting into the area and from a Carle pass hitting a low left-foot drive that was held by Glory goalkeeper Jason Petkovic at the near post.
A min later, Ward finds Despotovski who passes to Celeski who is just wide from close range with a low shot.
The first half ends with a fierce Carle shot that is handled by Townsend in the penalty area but no penalty given.
The Jets commence the second half with Steve Eagleton at right back and North switched to the left replacing Mateo Corbo. They continue to dominate, in the 49 min a Thomson corner finds Picken who just mis times his header which flashes across the face of the goal. 3 mins later a Milicic shot is blocked it falls to Thomson who fires well over the cross bar from outside the penalty area. In the 56 min Coveny finds Musialik but he too fires well over the cross bar from outside the penalty area.
The game's turning point came when a Despotovski cross in the 58th minute was turned into his own net by Picken to hand Perth a 2-1 lead. Perth defender Townsend dived in for a header but missed the ball, which hit Picken's knee and went in off a upright, 2-1 Perth.
The Jets again continue to dominate but their final pass is in accurate, their crosses are too shallow, and their long range shooting is well off target. Perth when in possesion break quickly, they to look to Despotovski and Mori to break through. In the 67 min Depostovski heads to Mori who falls to connect in front of goal. But Mori had his goal in the 72nd minute, taking a neat through ball from Ward before beating Reddy with a clinical left foot finish, to make it 3-1 Perth.
The Jets added attackers Haliti (58 min) and Parisi (72 min) and the home side had a number late chances, with Eagleton sending a low shot wide from inside the area past the far post (78 min), Haliti passes neatly to Milicic whose shot is blocked (80 min), Coveny heading over the cross bar from a Parisi cross (81 min), Haliti firing over the cross bar from a Carle back hell (87 min) with finally Milicic low shot from outside the area beats Petkovic but goes past the upright.
But Newcastle couldn't convert their opportunities to pull a goal back much to the annoyance of the home fans.
What the coaches said:
Richard Money -
"We had more shots, more crosses and more balls in the box today than probably any other game, certainly since the new year, but we defended poorly on three occasions," "We're going to focus on the positives - we're in the four and we start all over again." "Anyone who thinks that the match on Friday (the minor semi-final against Central Coast) will have any reflection to what has happened over the last month must be kidding themselves." "Next Friday, it will be totally different."
Alan Vest -
"We got a bit of Perth Glory spirit back. The character was good, the attitude was good, the approach to the game was good," "If we'd have done that a few more times this season then we'd have been in the top four." "I've made it clear before if the squad doesn't change then I don't want to be there." "They've got to sort the coaching situation out sooner rather than later." "The (club) ownership is not going to be sorted out in the next two months, so it will be difficult to do that, and we could be in the same situation as we were last year."