Newcastle Jets proved too strong for a depleted Glory side on Sunday afternoon, running out 6-1 winners at McDonald Jones Stadium.
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With a host of senior players unavailable through injury, including Bruno Fornaroli, Andy Keogh, Daniel Sturridge, Brandon O’Neill, Kosuke Ota, Adrian Sardinero, Nick Fitzgerald and Brad Jones, the visitors were ultimately unable to contain Arthur Papas’ men who established a 3-0 lead at the break.
Beka Mikeltadze grabbed two of those first-half goals and duly completed his hat-trick from the spot late on, while fellow-import Daniel Penha helped himself to a brace either side of the break and Kuach Yuel also got on the scoresheet.
Glory’s goal, meanwhile, came from substitute Ciaran Bramwell who clipped home a Jack Clisby cross in the 69th minute to take his A-League career-tally to three.
Another positive for the men in purple came in the form of 19-year-old forward Jayden Gorman who became the latest PGFC Academy graduate to make his senior debut.
And although Head Coach Ruben Zadkovich described the game as being a bridge too far for his young charges, he backed them to learn from it and come back stronger.
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“That one caught up with us a little bit,” he said.
“It was our third game in six days, two of those away from home and we had 10 or 11 NPL players in the squad.
“It was a product of circumstance, it was disappointing and it hurt a lot, but there’ll be positives to take, especially for those younger guys.
“They’ll have learned a lot of hard lessons tonight about what football is like at this level, the travelling away from home and having to back up.
“The inconsistency of youth shone through tonight, but let’s not take anything away from Newcastle.
“They’re a very good team and at home this year, they’ve been on the front foot, very attacking and aggressive.
“It was a difficult night for the young boys.
“There’s a lot to take out of tonight… there were a lot of negatives in the way we defended and our bad decision-making under fatigue, but they are lessons and things to grow from and that will be my focus for the rest of the season.”
Newcastle’s first goal arrived just before the midway point of the first half, Savvas Siatravanis linking up with Yuel whose pull-back to the top of the box was clinically despatched by Penha.
1-0 became 2-0 ten minutes later, this time Mikeltadze capitalising upon some hesitant defending to drive towards goal and beat Liam Reddy with a low shot.
And the Georgian then took his tally for the season to 11 when he clipped home an inviting cross delivered into the box by former Glory man, Dane Ingham.
Any hope of Zadkovich’s side claiming a foothold in the contest all but disappeared five minutes into the second half when Penha followed up to drill home after Reddy had done well to block an initial close-range effort from Angus Thurgate.
Glory’s response was a well-worked goal from Bramwell, the striker getting in front of his marker to meet a cross from Clisby who, in turn, had been picked out by a raking, cross-field ball from Mitch Oxborrow.
But the Jets were to have the final say with two further goals in the last 12 minutes, Mikeltadze firing home from the spot after substitute Joseph Forde had tripped Ingham and Yuel adding number six with an opportunistic finish.
Match Details
Newcastle Jets 6 (Penha 21′, 50′ Mikeltadze 31′, 37′, (pen) 78′, Yuel 81′) Perth Glory 1 (Bramwell 69′)
Half-time: 3-0
McDonald Jones Stadium
Attendance: 4643
Referee: Stephen Lucas
Newcastle Jets: 1.Jack DUNCAN (GK), 2.Dane INGHAM, 3.Jason HOFFMAN (16.Konstandinos GROZOS 59′), 4.Jordan ELSEY, 6.Matt JURMAN (C) (26.Archie GOODWIN 79′), 9.Beka MIKELTADZE (44.Riley WARLAND 79′), 11.Daniel PENHA (15.Dylan MURNANE 59′), 13.Brandon WILSON, 17.Kuach YUEL, 21.Savvas SIATRAVANIS (28.Blake ARCHBOLD 83′), 32.Angus THURGATE
Substitutes not used: 7.Jordan O’DOHERTY, 20.Michael WEIER
Yellow Cards: Jurman, Thurgate
Red Cards: None
Perth Glory: 33.Liam REDDY (GK) (C), 14.Jack CLISBY, 18.Daniel STYNES (19.Callum TIMMINS 46′), 21.Antonee BURKE-GILROY, 22.Josh RAWLINS, 23.Mitch OXBORROW (6.Osama MALIK 79′), 24.Pacifique NIYONGABIRE (47.Tyler VECCHIO 46′), 26.Giordano COLLI, 28.Trent OSTLER (38.Ciaran BRAMWELL 46’0, 29.Darryl LACHMAN, 88.Jayden GORMAN (36.Joseph FORDE 59′)
Substitutes not used: 12.Cameron COOK (GK), 32.Aidan COYNE
Yellow Cards: Gorman
Red Cards: None
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