On a comfortable December late afternoon, early evening, Perth Glory played host to Newcastle United in what would be a rather miserable and difficult A-League match to watch as they suffered a 4-0 defeat at HBF Park. The Jets dominated early, with Thomas Aquilina scoring in the 8th minute, followed by goals from Lachlan Bayliss (21') and Ben Gibson (26'). Gibson added another goal shortly after halftime in the 46th minute. Aquilina contributed significantly with a goal and two assists, while Gibson tallied two goals and an assist.
Perth just never looked comfortable and were never able to mount and pose any serious challenge as Newcastle would have the answers at every throw of the dice, with Perth at times looking desperate to seek an opening goal to their account throughout the match.
Perth Glory struggled to mount a comeback, making several substitutions at halftime, but were unable to break through Newcastle's defense. The match saw multiple yellow cards, including for Perth's Nicholas Pennington and Taras Gomulka, and Newcastle's Aquilina.
This result marked a significant victory for Newcastle Jets, ending a series of draws between the two teams and highlighting their offensive prowess. This game was certainly a tough match to watch, although it was not as such for my friend who is a Newcastle fan and would be reminding me what was going on as well as the score. But it was all in jest as we had both agreed that Newcastle are very much like the Perth Glory of the east and have their fair share of ups and many, many downs to make their fans, much like Perth fans tear their hair out is despair.
Now on about the food and drink. We had a Matso's ginger beer which was not too bad as well as a Captain Morgan's rum. These were 13.50 each and again mid-strength beverages which they taste alright, do lack that alcohol content that packs any punch and not worth it for the price. Cool drinks like Pepsi are now almost the price of a Toyota Corolla and valued at 6.70. This is becoming ridiculous, but of course people are thirsty and the younger ones who want a beverage will no doubt be supplying the vendors with their sustained high demands for it. Keeping the circular flow going until it becomes beyond a joke.
The chicken burger was with a Korean twist and was not too bad and the spiciness wasn't bad either. It was just not the spicy it bills itself to be. I guess it is more of a mainstream Australian 'spicy' rather than actual spicy. The pulled pork loaded fries with nacho topping and jalapenos were not too bad either. but for 17 dollars were on the rather high side of things.
Another day watching Perth Glory do what they do best. Although the, pardon the pun, 'glory days' of Perth Glory now seem like a distant memory as the National Soccer League era is now 20 years ago, the memories of match-days and the glimmer of hope they show and those experiences do occasionally shine through. Which like an old unhappy marriage, I can relate, you just keep hanging around and when the good times are there, you seem to want to hang around. Well, until the next time, I shall be at Perth Oval yet again for another unpredictable adventure, with predictable results.
