Perth Glory’s Youth Team has unearthed another gem with midfielder Andrija Jukic netting a sensational hat trick in the club’s clash against Sydney FC at Members Equity Stadium on Sunday morning.
Perth Glory-s Youth Team has unearthed another gem with midfielder Andrija Jukic netting a sensational hat trick in the club-s clash against Sydney FC at Members Equity Stadium on Sunday morning.
Local fans were treated to an action packed match resulting in eight goals between the sides but unfortunately for Perth it was the experience of Sydney that prevailed.
Sydney attacker Sean Rooney also scored a hat trick in his side-s 5-3 win that moves them two points clear at the top of the table while Perth sit in fourth spot with two wins and a loss.
“Sydney put away their chances and I think it-s another good learning curve for our boys,” Youth Team Coach Gareth Naven said following the match.
“We-ve had two games away where they did really well and it just shows us as a group where we have to work to be better and I think that is a good thing,” Naven said.
Rooney opened the scoring for the visitors but two goals in five minutes from the classy Jukic saw the Glory leading 2-1 and seemingly in a strong position before the break.
However a late lapse enabled Rooney to knock home two more before the half time whistle to give Sydney the lead. That confidence extended into the second half when Matthew Jurman extended the advantage for Sydney in the 68th minute.
Jukic narrowed the lead when he pulled one back shortly after but Brendan Gan nodded home in the 83rd minute to end the Glory-s unbeaten start to the new competition.
Sorrento defender Scott Neville continued to shine for Perth as he made a number of impressive tackles to foil an attack minded Sydney side while at the other end it was Jukic who was also bringing the crowd to life with his superb touch and class in front of goal.
His first goal coming on 23 minutes when he latched onto a well weighted Howard Fondyke cross to belt the ball into the back of the net. Five minutes later he gave Glory the lead after a Sydney foray forward was cut off by Hayden Doyle, the ball then channelled through Mark Lee to find Jukic who ran and unleashed a wonderful curling strike into the top-right-hand corner.
“Andrija is a player who took his opportunities, he-s training hard, wants to get better with each session,” Naven said.
“He can play up front and in midfield, he is a creative and positive player and showed good balance a bit of class today.”
Perth will now look to their next challenge which comes in the form of Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium on Sunday 26 October.
Perth Glory 3 (Andrija Jukic 22-/26-/72-)
Sydney FC 5 (Sean Rooney 13-/43-/44-, Matthew Jurman 68-, Brendan Gan 83-)
Members Equity Stadium, Perth
Sunday 19 October 2008
Referee: David Costello
Assistant Referees: Tim Mihevc, Trent Fleshkens
Fourth Official: Troy Miller
Perth Glory line-up: 40.Devon SPENCE (gk), 2.Ryan PEARSON, 3.Scott NEVILLE (5.Brent GRIFFITHS 43-), 4.Liam HARVEY (3.Scott NEVILLE 66-), 6.Hayden DOYLE, 8.Howard FONDYKE, 9.Nick RIZZO (OA) (7.James SAMMUT 61-), 12.Reece VITTIGLIA, 13.Andrija JUKIC, 18.Mark LEE (OA) (10.Adam LUCA 61-), 19.David TARKA (OA) (9.Nick RIZZO (OA) 85-)
Substitutes not used: Nil
Yellow cards: Ryan Pearson 30-
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney FC line-up: 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (gk) (30.Lawrence THOMAS (gk) 61-), 2.Rhyan GRANT, 3.Adam BIDDLE (11.Kofi DANNING 61-), 4.Chris TRIANTIS, 5.Matthew JURMAN, 8.Anthony GOLEC, 9.Sean ROONEY (6.Chris PAYNE 61-), 10.Zach CAIRNCROSS, 13.Sam MUNRO, 14.Brendan GAN, 16.Nikolas TSATTALIOS (7.Robbie MILESKI 61-)
Substitutes not used: Nil
Yellow cards: Brendan Gan 38-, Matthew Jurman 64-
Red Cards: Nil
