Perth Glory looked a shadow of their former selves without star striker Sam Kerr, which set the stage for the U.S U/23 international to re-stake her claim for a national team place after a goalless 2017 NWSL season.

The win temporarily lifts Adelaide from seventh to third in the W-League, while Perth have gifted Newcastle Jets the chance to steal top spot when they face an underperforming Melbourne City on Sunday. 

An elated Alex Chidiac was Adelaide’s other star performer, and couldn’t contain her excitement at the result.

“Its amazing to come away with the win, especially at home,” she said. “This is the first week we’ve had our whole squad together, so I think we did really well.”

“We’re working well, I like our new formation and Makenzy was amazing today.”

It was a stark difference to the demeanour of Perth’s Raquel Rodriguez, who lamented her side’s inaccuracy.

“It was definitely a battle out there,” she said. “Adelaide’s a great team, but there’s no excuse. We created chances and we dominated at times, but we couldn’t convert.

“Still, we fought until the end so I’m proud of the team.”

A more reserved, slightly nervous looking Doniak admitted she was loving life in the city of churches.

“I’m really happy, I owe all three goals to the team,” she said.

“I love Adelaide. It actually hasn’t been too hard (to adapt), the team and the coaches have been great, and all the American girls I’m with have helped a lot.”