David Zdrilic’s reign as Glory Head Coach began with a 4-2 victory over Armadale SC in what was a competitive, high-tempo pre-season friendly at Albert Skeet Reserve on Tuesday evening.
View Zdrilic’s post-match interview HERE.
Well-taken goals from the returning Josh Risdon and Jarrod Carluccio saw the visitors establish a 2-0 first-half lead which was extended almost immediately after the restart courtesy of David Williams’ pinpoint finish.
Armadale responded via a close-range header from leading scorer Pieter Jacobsz b,efore Hiroaki Aoyama marked his Glory debut by making it 4-1 on the hour-mark.
Joshua Willis thumped in a second for the hosts soon after, but although the pace of the game never dipped in the latter stages, neither side was able to force another breakthrough.
In front of a vocal crowd of over 500, Glory showed no signs of ring-rust in what was the club’s first pre-season outing and were rewarded for their early dominance when Risdon crashed home at the far post following a clever flick from Williams.
Risdon and Carluccio continued to combine to great effect down the right as the first half wore on and the latter doubled his side’s lead 32 minutes in, picking out the bottom corner with a crisp strike from the edge of the box.
Home ‘keeper Joel Driscoll was forced to make two fine saves to deny Carluccio and Abdul Faisal in the shadows of half-time and when Williams made it 3-0 after neat approach work from Luke Bodnar early in the second half, the visitors seemed in total control.
To their credit, however, Alun Vernals’ side swiftly struck back through Jacobsz, much to the delight of the home supporters who were in fine voice throughout.
At this point, Zdrilic made a full 11 changes, deploying a largely PGFC Academy-based side and they responded by restoring their three-goal advantage almost immediately as Aoyama thumped in a fourth goal.
Again Armadale reacted well to the setback, this time Willis capping off a fine move with an emphatic finish, but Glory retained their composure, regained the initiative and could have added further gloss to the scoreline late on.
Next on the agenda for the men in purple is the 2024 Australia Cup PlayOff clash with Brisbane Roar which will take place in Darwin on Tuesday 23 July.
Match Details
Pre-Season Friendly
Armadale SC 2 (Jacobsz 53′, Willis 63′) Perth Glory 4 (Risdon 11′, Carluccio 32′, Williams 47′, Aoyama 61′)
Half-time: 0-2
Alfred Skeet Reserve
Tuesday 16 July 2024
Referee: Shane Skinner
Perth Glory Line-Up 0-60 mins: 1.Oli SAIL (gk), 4.Luke BODNAR, 5.Lachie BARR, 6.Brandon O’NEILL, 9.David WILLIAMS, 12.Taras GOMULKA, 15.Zach LISOLAJSKI, 17.Jarrod CARLUCCIO, 19.Josh RISDON, 21.Abdul FAISAL, 28.Kaelan MAJEKODUNMI
Perth Glory Line-Up 60-90 mins: 13.Cameron COOK (gk), 2.Aiki TSUKAMOTO, 3.Gert PRINSLOO, 11.Hiroaki AOYAMA, 14.Nathanael BLAIR, 18.Daniel STYNES (triallist), 20.Malise MPUNGA, 23.Laat MATHIANG, 25.Jaylan PEARMAN, 26.Khoa NGO, 27.Tadiwanashe KUZAMBA
Substitutes not used: 7.Giovanni DE ABREU, 8.Seb DESPOTOVSKI, 24.Samuel BARRY, 31.Royie RAHAMIM
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