A-League Men: Perth Glory one game away from league’s longest winless run after defeat to Newcastle Jets

A pitiful Perth Glory are one game away from a slice of unwanted history as Newcastle Jets thrashed the hapless A-League Men cellar-dwellers 4-0 at HBF Park. The Jets, who were just one point ahead of Perth heading into the game, exposed just how vast the gulf in class is between the Glory and the rest of the league. In doing so, they stretched Perth’s A-League Men’s winless run to 18 games, just one match off equaling the league’s all-time record for the longest streak without three points. The heat on rookie head coach David Zdrilic will feel like an inferno this week as Newcastle — who had only scored four goals all season heading into the clash — repeatedly cut through Perth like a hot knife through butter, as fans chanted for Zdrilic’s sacking. Perth are set to tick over 10 months without a win in the A-League Men, and have now shipped 57 goals in their last 15 competitive matches. A week which started with a push by the Australian Tax Office to liquidate the club ended fittingly, as owner Ross Pelligra watched on as Newcastle went 3-0 up inside 26 minutes, while the Glory looked more liquid than solid, bereft of both confidence and a cohesive plan. The Jets’ eighth-minute opener was a domino effect of incompetence as Luis Canga sliced a clearance and with Riley Warland sitting too far off Thomas Aquilina, the Jets attacker fired a shot through goalkeeper Cameron Cook’s legs. Aqualina almost made it 2-0 two minutes later, and then Taras Gomulka cleared off the line as Perth were under siege. Newcastle skipper Kosta Grozos was subbed off early with an injury, but his replacement Lachlan Bayliss made an instant impact, nutmegging Adam Bugarija and then curling into the top corner of the net in the 21st minute. And five minutes later, Benjamin Gibson snuck in between centre-backs Canga and Tomi Mrcela – given a start just a week after re-signing for the club – to make it 3-0. The third goal triggered an emergency meeting between the players in the middle of the pitch, and you could be forgiven for mistaking the huddle for a prayer circle borne of desperation. Every half-positive Glory moment was greeted with a cheer of almost condescending encouragement from the crowd, like they were applauding a toddler learning a new skill for the first time. Brandon O’Neill then had to be helped off the pitch after coming off second best in a collision with Aleksandar Susnjar. Boos rang out at half-time, whistles of derision in hot pursuit and Zdrilic looked to his bench, hooking import Canga and bringing on Lachlan Barr, Abdul Faisal and Jarrod Carluccio. But with fans still filing back into their seats after half-time, Gibson grabbed his second of the night just 58 seconds after the restart with the simplest of tap-ins. Glory did not quite ignite, but there were some hopeful sparks, with Adam Taggart denied by goalkeeper Ryan Scott and an unfortunate deflection. In reality though, it was a fitting conclusion to arguably the worst week in the club’s history, and the post-game PA announcement wishing fans a merry Christmas was delivered with no trace of irony.