Glory came into this match with a double incentive for taking the three points.

A win would propel them to the top of the table and would also be a fitting result for their latest centurion Kim Carroll. Newcastle, on the other hand, were desperate for the three points to keep their faint hopes of making the top four alive.

The home team suffered a massive injury blow during the week, with their talisman captain Emily van Egmond out for the rest of the season, whilst Glory were without their key defensive midfielder Nikki Stanton who was serving a one match suspension.

For the first 20 minutes, the home side were slightly the better of the two teams, with debutant Tessa Tamplin creating problems for Glory on their left, whilst on the other flank, Jets skipper Gemma Simon was also making life difficult for the away team.

Glory were guilty of losing possession too cheaply and even Sam Kerr was misplacing passes. They seemed to be missing the influence of the suspended Stanton, with Alyssa Mautz forced to play in a deeper role to cover her absence.

Newcastle were building nicely and using their wide players well, but too often the cross into the box was either over hit or too close to Glory keeper Eliza Campbell.

The first drinks break allowed coach Bobby Despotovski to pass on some instructions to his players, and the team responded by taking the lead just after the half hour mark through Kerr.

Some great work by Rachel Hill on the left saw her wriggle free and put in a terrific cross which Kerr despatched into the back of the net to record her 50th goal for the Perth Glory, and her 63rd overall.

She now joins Michelle Heyman at the top of the W league goalscoring list.

The goal put Newcastle back on their heels for a while and Perth finally started to move the ball around, instead of just hitting it long and hoping that Kerr or Hill would work some magic.