Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
AAP
AAP
National
Joey Lynch

Glory send Jets to bottom with late penalty

Nicholas Pennington's late penalty has given Perth a 2-1 win over Newcastle. (Jono Searle/AAP PHOTOS)

A stunned Newcastle have been left ruing a series of missed chances and what coach Mark Milligan labelled poor decision-making after a late penalty gave Perth an unlikely 2-1 comeback win at McDonald Jones Stadium.

Seeking to arrest a two-game losing run on Sunday evening, the Jets took a 15th-minute lead through Xavier Bertoncello and looked to be in cruise control.

But Tom Lawrence's equaliser just before halftime snapped their momentum and with little more than 10 minutes remaining, an unfortunate handball from Daniel Wilmering allowed Nicholas Pennington to score from the penalty spot for the Glory's first win of the season.

The result moves the West Australians off the foot of the table, doing so at the expense of the Jets, and secured caretaker coach Adam Griffiths his first win since taking over from the sacked David Zdrilic.

"I have no idea," Griffiths told Paramount when quizzed on his future. 

"But I know in world football, when coaches are in (these) positions, the only thing that teams want and the only thing that fans want is to win. It's the same with us."

Pushing numbers forward after a Perth turnover, the Jets started brightly when Alex Badolato slid a pass through Bertoncello to net the opener with his first ALM goal.

It threatened to open the floodgates, with another turnover moments later allowing Max Burgess to flash a shot wide.

Bertoncello forced a strong save from Matt Sutton in the 20th minute, and only desperate intervention from Brian Kaltack could stop  Lachlan Rose from rounding the keeper and firing into an open goal in the 32nd.

But the Jets were punished for their wastefulness in the 38th minute when a turnover of their own allowed Rhys Bozinovski to seize possession and slide an inch-perfect pass through for former Rangers attacker Lawrence to finish.

The hosts were then dealt a sucker-punch in the 77th minute when, with Glory's first touch in their penalty area in the second half, Sebastian Despotovski headed the ball back into the arm of Wilmering, giving Pennington the chance to win it.

The Jets desperately tried to rally but after coming off the bench, Glory skipper Adam Taggart almost made it three instead - having a goal disallowed as well as hitting the crossbar.

"I don't think it slipped out of our grasp," Milligan told Paramount. 

"We lost the game because of our decision-making.

"I never thought that they would have control of the game. 

"A (poor) decision gives them the first goal, and then, I don't know if it's a handball or not, but it's a little bit careless on our part."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.