A late Tijan McKenna goal has put Perth Glory right in the top six fight, as they took out the Newcastle Jets 3-2 at the No.2 Sportsground.
Newcastle went ahead twice, first through Emma Dundas then through Melina Ayres, but Perth found equalisers from Gabby Hollar and Clancy Westaway before McKenna scored the late winner.
Pressure on the rebound paid off for Newcastle when Sophie Hoban’s shot struck the post and sat up in front of the arriving Dundas to score the first goal of the evening.
Newcastle goalkeeper Georgia Ricci was kept busy for the rest of the first half and made a number of impressive saves to keep the scoreline 1-0 for as long as it was.
Perth eventually got the breakthrough right before half time; an errant pass from Libby Copus-Brown was pounced on by Hollar, who chipped the out-of-position Ricci.
Rola Badawiya thought she’d grabbed the lead for Perth early in the first half when her inventive finish in a goal mouth scramble took the ball over the line, however the goal was disallowed for a foul on the keeper.
Ayres scored her sixth goal of the season to give the Jets the lead back on the hour mark when she flew in at the top of the box to volley Lauren Allen’s cross in low to the keeper’s right.
Parity was restored once more when Ella Lincoln’s cutback from the right perfectly found Westaway arriving in at the spot, the 18-year-old tucking the ball past the keeper at the far post.
Perth took the lead for the first time of the evening in the 85th minute, McKenna watched the corner fly over the cluster of defenders and fall to her at the back post to blast home.
The Glory will go into the Asian Cup break on 23 points and inside the top six by one point, while the Jets stay on 17 points; five points out of the top six and just two points off the bottom of the table.
