Perth Glory extended their unbeaten streak to five, with a 1-1 draw against the Newcastle Jets at Dorrien Gardens.

The Glory move up to second place on the W-League ladder, but the frustration was clear to see post match, as the home side missed their chance to go top.

In the sweltering Perth heat, the two teams struggled with creativity and the game quickly settled into a slow and steady pace.

The Newcastle Jets are the only team yet to take maximum points from Glory, with their 1-0 home victory over the side from the west, in Round 3.

The home side were looking to make amends, however, they were lacking their usual attacking inventiveness and vision, which had seen them, beat the likes of Sydney FC and Melbourne City respectively.

Perth were limited to long range efforts with Di Bernardo, Stanton and Kerr all going close in the first half.

The big talking point of the first forty five was Di Bernardo penalty, which was saved comfortably by Rowland in fine form in goal.

After a lacklustre first half display by the Jets, it was surprisingly the away side which grabbed the opening goal.

A rare defensive mix up allowed Kingsley to sweep in and side step keeper Dal Busco in the first minute of the second half.

The 477 Glory fans were stunned, as were the Glory players, who were no doubt warned about this danger in the half time break.

It was looking a long way back for Glory, who were battling the 34 degree heat. However, captain Kerr showed her class once again with a superb equaliser in the 69th minute.

Kerr did what she does best, running past three Jets defenders and beautifully chipping the ball over Rowlends head.

Kerr has tallied up eight goals so far this season and has been the driving force behind Glory’s success in Season 9.

Glory failed to capitalise on Kerr’s great strike and it was in fact the Newcastle Jets who went closest to winner.

Overall, it was not a great day at the office for either side.

Perth Glory - Talking Point

Perth Glory coach Bobby Despotovski was left unimpressed by his team’s performance as they squandered their chance to go top.

“I’m disappointed. We have much, much better players than we showed today but we scored, we drew the game so we must take some positives” he said.

“The weather played its part today but it was for both sides and for them this is their third game in seven days so from our perspective this was not good enough.”

The frustration was clear to see from Kerr post match as the team failed to capitalise on her equaliser and take a two point advantage on top of the W-League ladder.

The coach was pleased with Kerr’s contribution.

“Sam Kerr scored such a good goal and I was disappointed that nobody wanted to lift their game or put their body on the line to get the win after she scored.” He said.

“Our performance was a complete contrast to that against Melbourne City last week but we will be back much stronger next week for Melbourne Victory.

We will go back to the drawing board and train hard all week to improve.”

Newcastle Jets - Talking Point

Caitlin Rowland had a good day at the office and was the stand out player for the away side.

Although Glory were limited to long range efforts, she caught everything that came her way.

The Jets will be thankful to her for the penalty save, which was a turning point in the game.

The save in the 36th minute gave the Jets a boost of confidence and kept the score at 0-0 going into the half time break.

The coach’s team talk rallied the troops as the Jets came out all guns blazing in the opening period of the second half to take the lead.

They nearly doubled their advantage moments later.

Dal Busco saved Glory’s blushes, clearing the ball from going over the line after an effort from Hoy.

Although Glory weren’t at their best, Rowland kept her back line organised and dealt with everything that came her way.

After a hectic holiday schedule –playing three games in seven days- the Jets will be pleased to come away with a point.

Up Next

Perth Glory face Melbourne Victory at home on Sunday 8th January 4pm local time, whilst the Newcastle Jets have a bye and return to action in Round 12 against Brisbane Roar.

Perth Glory 1 (Sam Kerr 69’)

Newcastle Jets 1 (Jenna Kingsley 46’)

Monday 2 January 2017

Dorrien Gardens, Perth

Kick-off: 4pm

Referee: Rachel Mitchenson

Perth Glory: Gabrielle Dal Busco (gk), Sarah Carroll, Kim Carroll, Alyssa Mautz, Nicole Stanton, Shawn Billam (Jaymee Gibbons 46’), Rosie Sutton, Vanessa DiBernardo (Caitlin Doeglas 83’), Natasha Rigby, Sam Kerr (c), Arianna Romero

Substitutes – Melissa Maizels (gk), Patricia Charalambous

Newcastle Jets: Katelyn Rowland (gk), Megan Oyster, Cassidy Davis, Gema Simon (c), Jen Hoy, Grace McIntyre, Rhali Dobson (Brooke Miller 73’), Tara Pender (Ashlee Brodigan 55’), Liana Danaskos, Jenna Kingsley, Clare Wheeler

Substitutes – Claire Coelho (gk), Sophie Nenadovic

Cautions – Grace McIntyre 36’, Gema Simon 57’