PERTH Glory coach Tony Popovic insists the Newcastle Jets have always been a danger but under new boss Carl Robinson they are a more aggressive and confident outfit.
The Jets stunned second-placed Perth 2-1 at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday night to end the Glory's 10-game unbeaten run and keep the home side's slight finals hopes alive.
The visitors "played some of our best football", despite a strike from out-of-this-world by centreback Nikolai Topor-Stanley, but couldn't match the Jets down the stretch.
After Topor-Stanley's 12th-minute thunderbolt was cancelled out by Neil Kilkenny from the spot in the 30th minute, the Jets lifted and Roy O'Donovan scored a deserved winner with 15 minutes remaining.
"The first half was as good as we have played in a little while," Popovic said. "Second half we looked a little fatigued .. the Jets have always been a danger. What they have now is that they are playing with a lot more intensity. They are a lot more aggressive in their play and they brought on some players who helped them see out the game. You can see they are more confident."
The win was the Jets' first in three outings under Robinson, stretched their undefeated run to five games. They are eight points behind sixth-placed Brisbane with seven games remaining.
"I focus on performance. I did that in the first three games and we are unbeaten in three," Robinson said. "What I see is the development of a team who is going to play slightly different. They want to play that way, they want to enjoy the ball. In the first half, we did a lot right, but we also got a lot wrong. We adjusted and got a serious amount of stuff right in the second half."
After playing well without reward in the past month, Robinson said the win would to the players "the world of good".
"They are a great bunch of boys," he said. "Even when they weren't picking up results they were a good group. There was no pointing fingers or anything like that."
As well as lifting the intensity and aggression, the Jets are playing out from the back under Robinson.
"It didn't quite come off too much in the first half," Robinson said. "We tried to play at times and cut through them, but they were clever. They pressed us high and won the ball back and there were lots of turnovers. It was like a tactical chess match in the first half. They probably edged it with their shots.
"Credit to the players, I made some adjustments at half-time and asked them to play slightly different. They did and I think we were the much better team in the second half and got the goal we deserved."
In his Jets debut, replacement Bernie Ibini was involved in the match-winner, getting a touch to a Bobby Burns cross which fell for O'Donovan, and Robinson said he and Wes Hoolahan had an impact off the bench.
"I thought Bernie made a difference when he came on," Robinson said. "If he is happy, he is as good as there is."
"He is very good at what he does. He has soft feet, he is fit and wants to play.
. Getting him in was a massive coup for the club. The squad love him to bits.
"It is not about 11 players. We have a squad of 23 players and everyone is going to play an important part as we grow. The subs made a difference when they came on, they bought a bit of energy."
