Callum Timmins struck both of Glory’s goals as Ruben Zadkovich’s side rounded off a difficult ISUZU UTE A-League campaign with a remarkable 2-0 home win over league leaders Melbourne City.
View full match highlights HERE.
Three points at HBF Park would have sealed the Premiers’ Plate for the full-strength visitors, but instead it was a depleted Glory side which produced a stunning performance to claim the spoils.
Timmins’ first effort after just five minutes was a contender for goal of the season, the midfielder bending a magnificent strike into the top corner from the edge of the box having been teed up by Antonee Burke-Gilroy.
And Timmins repeated the trick just after the midway point of the second half, this time sending in a low shot which squirmed out of the grasp of City ‘keeper Tom Glover and crept into the net.
There were standout performers all over the field for the hosts, notably Timmins, Burke-Gilroy, Liam Reddy and Darryl Lachman and Head Coach Ruben Zadkovich was understandably delighted with what he saw.
“It’s been coming,” he said.
“Obviously I’m very proud of the boys.
“I thought they executed the game plan really well and it was well deserved.
“There’s a lot of guys in that dressing-room that have had a really tough season for a whole lot of reasons, but to be that resolute at the end of all of that, tells me everything I need to know.
“For me, it’s another positive step.
“A win like that will be another part of the foundations of our successes next year and moving forward.
“My belief doesn’t waver in tough times and I’ve been trying to impart that onto the boys; that the hardships are actually the best times when you learn the most about yourself and the other people around you.
“Tonight we had a whole group of people that represented themselves and their team and their club really well and it’ll be a huge bit of belief that the boys need.”
Knowing that a win would be enough to clinch a second successive Premiership, City would have been expected to come flying out of the blocks, but instead it was Glory who hit the front almost immediately, courtesy of Timmins’ sublime finish.
With the home side showing an incredible level of determination to hold onto their early lead, Patrick Kisnorbo’s men found it hard to muster a serious goal-threat in the opening half-hour and when they eventually did so through top scorer Jamie Maclaren, the former Glory man saw his low shot strike the inside of the post and fail to cross the line.
And in first-half stoppage-time, Liam Reddy produced a save which was almost as pivotal as Timmins’ opening goal, somehow managing to keep out a close-range header from Rostyn Griffiths.
Just after the hour-mark, Matthew Leckie struck the bar with a thunderous shot and Glory made the most of that let-off by doubling their lead six minutes later.
Glover seemed to have Timmins’ shot well covered, but then contrived to lose control of the ball and allow it to trickle away from his hands and over the line.
If the home Members and fans were expecting a stung City to launch a late onslaught, they were to be proved wrong as the men in purple successfully kept the Premiers-elect at arm’s length and ensured that a fourth win of an incredibly challenging season would not be snatched from their grasp.
Glory’s resistance and resolve proved too much for Curtis Good who was dismissed after picking up a second yellow card in the final minute of stoppage-time to compound a miserable night for the Victorians.
Match Details
Perth Glory 2 (Timmins 5′. 67′) Melbourne City 0
Half-time: 1-0
HBF Park
Attendance: 3095
Referee: Alex King
Perth Glory: 33.Liam REDDY (GK) (C), 6.Osama MALIK (47.Tyler VECCHIO 76′), 11.Nick FITZGERALD (43.Adam ZIMARINO 76′), 19.Callum TIMMINS, 21.Antonee BURKE-GILROY (32.Aidan COYNE 90+2′), 22.Josh RAWLINS, 23.Mitch OXBORROW (45.Aidan EDWARDS 32′), 26.Girodano COLLI, 29.Darryl LACHMAN, 36.Joseph FORDE, 37.Jacob MUIR
Substitutes not used: 12.Cameron COOK (GK), 15.Daniel STURRIDGE, 42.Josh ANASMO
Yellow Cards: Edwards
Red Cards: None
Melbourne City: 1.Tom GLOVER (GK), 3.Scott JAMIESON (GK), 4.Nuno REIS, 5.Rostyn GRIFFITHS (16.Taras GOMULKA 78′), 6.Carl JENKINSON, 7.Matthew LECKIE (38.Jordan BOS 75′), 9.Jamie MACLAREN, 15.Andrew NABBOUT, 18.Connor METCALFE, 22.Curtis GOOD, 23.Marco TILIO
Substitutes not used: 33.Matthew SUTTON (GK), 2.Scott GALLOWAY, 14.Tsubasa ENDO, 17.Stefan COLAKOVSKI, 34.Jordon HALL
Yellow Cards: Griffiths, Jenkinson, Tilio, Jamieson, Good
Red Cards: Good
#OneGlory
