Double red card for Glory skipper

Perth Glory captain Rostyn Griffiths could find himself in serious trouble after being handed a double red card

Rostyn Griffiths on the ball before bsing sent off.

Perth Glory captain Rostyn Griffiths could find himself in serious trouble after being handed a double red card as his side was made to fight all the way in a controversy-marred 2-2 draw with the Newcastle Jets at McDonald Jones Stadium yesterday.

The visitors had to come from behind to grab an important point that sees them move to within a win of fourth-placed Brisbane Roar after 15 rounds. But, they had to do it the hard way, playing the final seven minutes with 10 men after Griffiths was handed a second yellow card late in the game. But, in a rare move, he was given another red card after hurling abuse at referee Steven Lucas.

Lucas had already been the focus of the Glory players after awarding the Jets a controversial penalty in the 37th minute, which was converted by Mateo Poljak to level the scores at 1-1. The consensus was that it was a poor decision by the referee.

Glory coach Kenny Lowe was left exasperated by the penalty call and the sending off.

“The momentum of the game changes on that decision,” Lowe said. “I don’t know, maybe it wasn’t a right decision. It’s a very soft one but done in good faith. It is not as if he needed Newcastle for his multibet to get up.

“As for Rostyn, it (the tackle for the second yellow card) wasn’t malicious. It was never a yellow. Then he is frustrated and says something to the referee and gets another red.”

Lowe appeared to have a running verbal battle with sideline official Kris Griffiths-Jones throughout the second half. “I spoke to him more than I do my missus,” the Glory boss said. “He is probably better looking, but fair play to Kris, he has personality.”

The Jets did well to come back from a horror start that saw them fall behind after just seven minutes after a terrible blunder from young defender Lachlan Jackson, who gifted Adam Taggart a goal.

But, they showed wonderful resolve to strike twice before half time through Poljak’s penalty then Andrew Nabbout’s 45th-minute goal. Perth came out a different side in the second half and equalised via Andy Keogh.

Perth looked solid in the opening minutes of the game, pinning the Jets deep in their own half for much of the time but even they would have been surprised to open the scoring the way they did on seven minutes. Keogh’s attempted pass to Taggart inside the box looked to be easy for Jackson to clear, but the young defender inexplicably miskicked the ball, which fell invitingly for Taggart.

At this stage the home side was all over the park and should have been punished in the 15th minute when Joe Mills sent over a delightful cross from the left that found an unmarked Chris Harold. But Harold’s header from eight metres out crashed against the crossbar.

But you could see the confidence grow in the home side and they created a number of half chances. Newcastle’s attacking intent was justly rewarded in the 37th minute when they were handed a penalty after Shane Lowry was adjudged to have fouled Nordstrand. Poljak neatly stroked the ball inside the right post to restore parity.

Nordstrand was again involved as Newcastle got to the lead for the first time in the match right on the stroke of half time when he fed a lovely through-ball for Nabbout in the box. It fell nicely into his path and he slotted it away to make it 2-1.

Perth c second half and should have equalised two minutes after the restart only for Diego Castro to butcher the gift chance, hitting his shot into the crossbar from five metres out. The Spaniard then sent a long-range effort skimming over the crossbar a minute later.

They didn’t have to wait much longer, however. A Harold cross from the right eluded a wall of players except for Keogh, who wstretched out his left foot to poke the ball into the net to make it 2-2 after 56 minutes. Both teams went for it in the latter stages as the game went from end to end with plenty of excitement.