Perth Glory's fading title hopes take hit with loss to Newcastle Jets

Perth Glory's title aspirations are fading fast following their woeful display in Saturday night's 2-1 loss to A-League strugglers Newcastle Jets at nib Stadium.

Glory were expected to romp to victory against a Jets outfit who had won just one game this season, and were winless against Perth in their past 14 matches.

But the form guide was turned on its head in a match dominated by the fast-paced Jets, ending Perth's 10-game unbeaten streak at home.

Jets attacker Andrew Hoole cancelled out Nebojsa Marinkovic's opener, before an embarrassing own goal from Glory midfielder Milan Smiljanic in first-half stoppage time gifted Newcastle all three points.

The Jets would have won by far more if it wasn't for the efforts of Glory goalkeeper Liam Reddy, who pulled off a series of stunning saves to keep his side in the match.

Glory boast one of the most impressive squads in the league, and they started the season with the belief they could contend for silverware.

But four losses and two draws from their past seven games have seen Glory fall five points adrift of third spot, and with a daunting game against league leaders Sydney to come next Saturday.

Glory's defence was sliced open time and again in the opening half, and they were lucky to be only 2-1 down at the break.

Things started well for Glory when Marinkovic opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a sweet strike from outside the box.

But that was a rare highlight in an otherwise horrible half for Glory.

Reddy did his best to keep Glory in the match with a series of clutch saves.

His best effort was a one-handed deflection that saw Hoole's strike bounce off the upright instead of going in for a goal.

But eventually the weight of chances paid dividends for Newcastle.

Hoole levelled the scores in the 21st minute when he latched onto a beautiful through ball from Devante Clut and curled the ball past Reddy.

And the Jets hit the lead in first-half stoppage time when Smiljanic headed the ball into his own net after trying to clear Andrew Nabbout's dangerous cross.

Glory players were booed off the field by some fans at half time.

Striker Adam Taggart and Smilanic were subbed off at the break, with Glory coach Kenny Lowe injecting Brandon Wilson and Kosta Petratos into the game in a bid to spark his team into action.

The moves helped to at least stem Newcastle's dominance for a bit, but Glory continued to struggle to create clear-cut opportunities.

Glory striker Andy Keogh missed a golden chance to equalise with a close-range header in the 69th minute.

But Reddy was holding the fort brilliantly at the other end, pulling off a double save to deny Andrew Nabbout and Wayne Brown.

"I'm pleased with the way we played," Jets coach Mark Jones said.

"We had 11 clear chances in the first half, and we probably had half a dozen in the second half.

"We've tried to play football. It's not rocket science - you get a couple of your stronger players back in the side, and it helps us."

Glory coach Kenny Lowe was at a loss to explain his team's poor performance, and he understood the frustration of the fans.

"At the end of the day all they want is a performance, with some character and attitude," Lowe said.

"Probably that didn't happen in the first half. It's the first time for me, and hopefully it's the last."