Paul Barbieri at Hyundai Stadium
The Perth Glory and Newcastle Jets have fought out a 1-1 draw in their first Hyundai A-League pre-season cup hit out at Mandurah's Hyundai Stadium.
The Glory took the lead when new signing Adrian Trinidad, in an impressive debut for the Argentine, won and dispatched a penalty during the 12th minute, bringing the crowd of almost 4000 people to life in the Western Australian seaside town, an hour south of Perth.
But the Jets hit back nine minutes before the break when Noel Spencer slipped the ball in through a crowded penalty area from a corner.
Perth defender Dino Djulbic forced a good save from Jets keeper Ante Covic during the second half while Glory stopper Jason Petkovic did well to palm away Jobe Wheelhouse's curling strike down the other end with five minutes remaining as both sides finished on level terms.
The Jets controlled possession, however, during the early stages but found themselves well contained by the Glory defence, marshalled superbly by former Socceroo Hayden Foxe.
The reigning Hyundai A-League premier also found themselves behind on the scoreboard within 12 minutes as Trinidad got his Australian career off to the best possible start.
The attacking midfielder, who had previously played for Malaysian capital club KL Plus, feinted within the box after collecting James Robinson's cross, but was fouled by Jets defender Jin Hyung Song, with referee Steven Gregorry pointing to the spot, allowing Trinidad to fire his spot kick past Covic.
Five minutes later, Glory midfielder Adrian Pellegrino had an opportunity to double the advantage as he cut into the box but Covic did well to block his effort and the chance went begging.
The Glory paid for the miss, as the Jets increased their forward pressure, drawing level in the 36th minute when a corner the ball ricocheted off Djulbic's head in the box, allowing Spencer to put the ball in despite a desperate slide from Hayden Doyle on the line.
Newcastle picked up where it left off after the re-start, fluidly moving the ball forward but the Jets found Petkovic in fine touch as he denied Matt Thompson and Jason Hoffman.
Perth, however, was unlucky not to receive a second penalty when James Robinson, looking suspiciously like Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver, was crudely body checked by Covic in the 54th minute, but the referee waved away the appeal.
Despite not being fully fit, Trinidad was causing all sorts of problems for the Jets in the middle, showing good control of the ball in tight spaces before deftly flicking on James Downey's cross to Djulbric. However, the big left back saw his 60th minute effort palmed aside by Covic.
Two minutes later, Griffiths was taken off and replaced by Jason Naidovski but without their star player, the Jets seemed a tad rudderless as the Glory gradually started dominating possession.
With 16 minutes remaining, the pacy Downey escaped down the right once again, firing a cross in towards Glory youth team member Anthony Skorich, but Covic was alert to the danger, diving on the ball before Skorich could pull the trigger.
In the last five minutes, Jets midfielder Wheelhouse escaped his marker, collecting a throw in and firing a curving shot towards goal that Petkovic did well to palm away but it was too little too late for the Jets as both sides shared the points on a crisp afternoon in Mandurah.
Perth Glory 1 (Trinidad 12p)
Newcastle Jets 1 (Spencer 36)
Crowd: 3825 at Hyundai Stadium, Mandurah