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For the second week in the row, a penalty has cost Newcastle dearly after a 1-0 loss to Perth in Friday night’s A-League clash.
After giving away the decisive penalty in last week’s 2-1 loss to Sydney FC, Jets’ keeper Ben Kennedy was again the man at fault as he brought down Socceroos’ striker Mile Sterjovski in the game’s 80th minute.
Sterjovski picked himself up to slot home the penalty in front of 4,738 fans at EnergyAustralia Stadium, his shot crashing in off the underside of the crossbar.
The loss was a harsh one for the Jets in skipper Matt Thompson’s 100th A-League match, as they had most of the game’s best chances.
Kosovo-born striker Labinot Haliti nearly put the Jets ahead in the first half, his snap-shot from the edge of the box in the 41st minute hitting the post.
But the Jets should have been ahead before Haliti’s chance. Korean winger Jin-Hyung Song hit a one-on-one volley straight at Perth ‘keeper Tando Velaphi in the seventh minute and midfielder Kaz Patafta fired wide after muscling past three Glory defenders midway through the first half.
Thompson had the Jets’ best chance in the second half, firing well wide after being set up cleverly by the busy Haliti.
But Glory made it four wins from their past six matches when Sterjovski struck to steal all three points, the Jets’ slumping to their third straight defeat.
Jets coach Branko Culina said the defeat had been even harder to swallow than last week’s loss against Sydney.
“It’s even worse than last week because last week at least Sydney had a couple of digs at us,” Culina said.
“I don’t think Perth had a shot. They had some corners but I don’t think they had a shot at us.
“From our point of view we’re obviously disappointed. Some times you don’t know whether to laugh or cry because when you dominate a game like we did there, you’d expect to get something out of it.”
Glory boss David Mitchell, while delighted to pick up another three points away from home after last week’s 4-2 win over Brisbane, was under no illusions about his team’s performance against the Jets.
“We looked pretty sluggish, didn’t play well but again from that point of view there’s many times we’ve played well and haven’t won,” Mitchell said.
“You’ve got to take it. Especially away from home where we’ve not done well so it’s nice to get two wins.
“Probably two wins that we haven’t deserved. It’s nice to sneak the win, but a bit fortunate.”
Glory skipper Jacob Burns also appeared to have fortune on his side, escaping any punishment for what looked like an attempted head butt on Adam D’Apuzzo in the first half, after the Jets’ defender put a heavy challenge on Perth midfielder Wayne Srhoj.
The Glory’s next fixture is at home against North Queensland, while the Jets will hope to end their losing run when they travel to Hindmarsh Stadium to play Adelaide.
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