Ryan Williams headed home six minutes into stoppage-time to keep Glory’s Finals hopes alive as Ruben Zadkovich’s men secured a dramatic 2-2 draw with Newcastle Jets at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday.
View full match highlights HERE.
The visitors fell behind late in the first half when Trent Buhagiar headed home a Manabu Saito cross, but restored parity shortly after the restart as Trent Ostler marked his first start of the season by nodding in a Jack Clisby corner.
When Kosta Grozos fired past Cameron Cook from just inside the box with 11 minutes left, it looked as if the Jets would claim all three points, only for Glory to find the net after the 90 minutes had elapsed for the second time in as many games.
The impressive Keegan Jelacic supplied the corner this time and Williams nipped in front of his marker to glance a header past Michael Weier and into the far corner.
The draw moved Glory to within three points of the Finals places, ahead of Saturday evening’s Sydney derby and having lost key men David Williams and Mustafa Amini to injury and illness respectively in the build-up to the game, Zadkovich was particularly heartened by the resolve his side displayed once again.
View his full post-match media conference HERE.
“We really wanted the three points,” he said, “and I felt like we could get them.
“There some patches of play from us that were really positive, especially at the start of the second half and I thought we got ourselves on top, but we missed a few moments, gave away a few chances and in the end, we take the point.
“It was backs-to-the-wall for us today having lost our leading scorer [Williams] in our final training session to a light strain and then we lost our captain on gameday to a vomiting bug.
“That bug went through the team a bit and there were some other boys who were carrying, so there were some fatigued bodies and a lot of tired legs out there.
“We got to the airport in Perth at 8am yesterday and got here at 9pm last night.
“Given the context of all those things, I thought we showed great character in adversity.
“I thought we showed great belief in coming back from being down twice and it’s just another testament to the character that’s in my dressing room.”
The opening half-hour of the game was fairly light-on in terms of clearcut chances, although Ostler did draw a good save from Michael Weier after capitalising upon a slip from Jason Hoffman.
But after Buhagiar’s opener for the Jets, it opened right up and the second half was littered with goalmouth action at both ends.
Ostler matched Buhagiar’s impressive aerial prowess by losing his marker at the far post and placing a thumping header into the far corner to make it 1-1 and Clisby then came close to giving Glory the lead when he flashed a right-footed effort narrowly wide.
At the other end, Cameron Cook was called upon to block a Saito effort as the Jets responded to relinquishing their lead and the Glory ‘keeper had his palms warmed again moments later when Buhagiar tried to squeeze one home at the near post.
Grozos duly did manage to find a way through with a pinpoint finish and when Williams was just unable to steer a cross from substitute Jacob Dowse into the net three minutes from time, it looked as though Glory’s race was run.
But just as they had done against Western Sydney Wanderers at HBF Park eight days earlier, the WA side pushed right to the end and were rewarded almost on the final whistle when Williams bagged his third goal of an impressive campaign with a deft headed finish.
Match Details
ISUZU UTE A-League 2022/23 Season Round 21
Newcastle Jets 2 (Buhagiar 36′, Grozos 79′) Perth Glory 2 (Ostler 52′, Williams 90+7′)
Half-time: 1-0
McDonald Jones Stadium
Referee: Adam Bavcar
Newcastle Jets: 20. Michael WEIER (gk), 3. Jason HOFFMAN (2. Dane INGHAM 66′), 4. Manabu SAITO (18. Daniel STYNES 79′), 5. Matthew JURMAN, 6. Brandon O’NEILL (14. Mohamed AL-TAAY 82′), 7. Trent BUHAGIAR, 9. Beka MIKELTADZE, 17. Kosta GROZOS (19. Callum TIMMINS 82′), 25. Carl JENKINSON, 32. Angus THURGATE, 39. Thomas AQUILINA
Substitutes not used: 1. Jack DUNCAN (gk), 8. Beka DARTSMELIA, 22. Philip CANCAR,
Yellow Cards: Jenkinson, Buhagiar, O’Neill, Mikeltadze
Red Cards: None
Perth Glory:Â 13.Cameron COOK (gk), 2.John KOUTROUMBIS, 4.Luke BODNAR (19.Zach DUNCAN 46′), 5.Mark BEEVERS (c), 6.Aaron MCENEFF (37.Jacob MUIR 83′), 7.Ryan WILLIAMS, 14.Jack CLISBY (3.Jacob DOWSE 83′), 16.Keegan JELACIC, 22.Adam TAGGART, 28.Trent OSTLER (43.Adam ZIMARINO 65′) 29.Darryl LACHMAN
Substitutes not used: 30.Pierce CLARK (gk), 36.Joseph FORDE
Yellow Cards: Beevers
Red Cards: None
#ONEGlory
