Perth Glory have slaughtered a injury plagued Newcastle Jets side 5-1 with a wonderful performance in Newcastle. The Glory scored some brilliant goals and simply tore the Newcastle Jets defence apart particularly in the second half.
Perth Glory coach Steve McMahon could afford to rest Marquee signing Brian Deane for the entire game as he started with former NSL veteran Damian Mori who gave an outstanding man of the match performance which included a two goal contribution, scoring in both halves.
The Newcastle Jets went into the match without the injured Richard Johnson and Ante Milicic who picked up injuries last week they have joined an injury list that also includes Steve Eagleton, Craig Deans, Jobe Wheelhouse, Brett Studman, and Andrew Durrante. Nick Carle was unavailable though suspension and Jade North is on Socceroo duty.
Richard Money was forced to dig deep into his squad and have Guy Bates and Mark Bridge start the match, unfortunately for the Jets fans either looked quick or sharp. The Jets have been forced to loan in players from the local Newcastle competition. Both James Monie and Peter McPherson looked out of their depth in the fast paced A-League arena.
The opening 30 mins saw both teams have their opportunities. The 9th min saw a Matt Thompson through ball put Monie on goal but his tame shot went straight to Jason Petkovic. The 11th min saw a Mori header from a Hiroyuki Ishida cross well saved by Liam Reddy. A Monie cross found Labinot Haliti whose goal bound header need two touches by Petkovic to ensure the save in the 16th min.
Perth Glory commenced to dominate possession and a Scott Miller long ball to Bobby Depotovski saw him head on to Damian Mori who struck a shot past Reddy in the 33 min, 1-0 to Glory. "I have been playing with Bobby for four years and know him well" commented Mori at the post match press conference.
A Billy Celeski shot from outside the area that went over the cross bar finished the first half action.
The Jets pulled everyone back in their own penalty area when defending corners but still Jamie Harnwell was able to head a Ishida cross goal bound from 2 metres which Reddy could only parry back to Harnwell who smashed the ball in, 2-0 to Glory just 2 mins into the second half.
A further 6 mins later a Jamie Coyne cross found a beautiful Despotovski
header finding inside the far upright for a brilliant goal, 3-0 to Glory. Three mins later saw a 25 meter chip from Despotovski from the left wing tipped over by Reddy.
It was too easy as just four minutes later a pinpoint cross from Ishida found Mori and despite a tight angle was able to head the ball in, 4-0 to Glory.
The 71st min finally saw the home crowd cheering as a Haliti through ball along the ground found substitute Franco Parisi who shot past Petkovic, 4-1.
Nick Ward hit the upright from close range in the 73th min and three mins later a Tarek Elrich pass found Mateo Corbo who hits a low shot just past the far post with Petkovic beaten.
The game really started to open up as the Jets pushed forward to save some pride and the Glory went for the kill. A Depotovski dummy saw the ball fall to substitute Sekulovski who fired a wonderful shot from outside the penalty area into the top far corner of the goal with his first touch of the game, 5-1 to Glory in the 80th min.
The 84th min saw Parisi in on goal from a bad back pass but his first touch was too hard as he rounded Petkovic and was forced to cross to Haliti who hit the cross bar with his shot.
The game ended with Damian Mori missing out on his hat trick with a goal bound shot in the 87th min which was blocked by Allan Picken and a header in the 92nd min which missed by centimeters from a Sekulovski cross.
What the coaches had to say:
Richard Money:
"I was fearful ’Äì we all know the reason for that" "We
are missing nine players" "The have a great front two" "I wasn"t happy
with performance ’Äì I want answers".
Steve McMahon:
"Damian Mori produced the goods" "I felt it was a
excellent team performance" On Damian Mori future availability: "He
finishes up next week ’Äì my hands are tied by the rules". On Brian Deane
absence: "You got Damian Mori today ’Äì we have a squad where all players
are required".