The Newcastle Jets have snatched a 1-1 draw with Perth Glory thanks to a late David Vrankovic goal in their National Youth League match at Adamstown Oval on Wednesday afternoon.
The Newcastle Jets have snatched a 1-1 draw with Perth Glory thanks to a late David Vrankovic goal in their National Youth League match at Adamstown Oval on Wednesday afternoon.
The Jets looked in control early but it was the Glory who grabbed the opening goal on the half-hour mark with a poacher’s strike from skipper Reece Vittiglia and took that lead into half-time.
The visitors maintained their control of the contest until midway through the second half when the home side came back into the match, and they were rewarded with a goal in the 89th minute to force a well-earned draw.
Newcastle went into the match with Jets Hyundai A-League coach Gary van Egmond looking to give regular players Ali Abbas, Marko Jesic and Matthew Nash some game time.
The home side applied most of the early pressure but it was the Glory who had the first two shots on goal, albeit from distance, as livewire striker Alex Canglia and Vittiglia shot wide of the target from outside the box.
But Newcastle eventually found some holes in the Perth defence.
Jesic saw his shot from 15 metres through a crowded penalty area saved by Glory goalkeeper Lewis Italiano, a dangerous Abbas cross was hit wide by striker Andrew Hoole before David Talevski failed to get a touch on a lovely through ball from Jesic with the goal at his mercy.
The visitors worked their way back into the match and Canglia forced a good save from Jets goalkeeper Matthew Nash in the 25th minute with a crisply taken shot from just inside the box.
The Glory took the lead just after the half-hour mark following a corner.
Jets defender Samuel Gallaway headed the ball against the near post and Vittiglia pounced on the rebound to poke home from three metres out to give Perth a 1-0 lead.
The Glory replaced Italiano with Devon Spence at the break while Abbas was replaced 10 minutes after the interval by Kale Bradbery.
The Glory controlled play after the break with defender Clayton Arnez shutting down Newcastle’s left-side attack and putting the ball through for Tom Amphlett and Canglia to cause the Jets defence some headaches.
Newcastle eventually swung the momentum when they concentrated their attack down the right wing and through the middle of the park.
Talesvki was on the end of a well-worked fast break through Bradbery but his looping shot was easily saved by Spence before Jesic was put into the clear with a nice through ball from Hoole but could only fire his shot straight at Spence.
The Jets eventually profited from their pressure right on the stroke of full-time when defender Vrankovic slammed home the ball from close range after Jesic flicked on a near-post corner.
The Glory almost grabbed a winner in injury time when O’Neill headed a corner to the back post but the shot was cleared by Talevski off the line and both sides had to settle for a share of the points.
Newcastle Jets 1 (Vrankovic 89)
Perth Glory 1 (Vittiglia 31)
@ Adamstown Oval
