Glory suffered penalty shootout heartache in the Australia Cup Round of 32 for a second successive year as they were eliminated by NPL QLD side Lions FC after the two sides fought out a 1-1 draw at Spencer Park.
The first goal of the night did not arrive until five minutes into extra-time when substitute Jerson Lagos found the net with a stunning left-foot curler.
Andriano Lebib duly headed home his first senior goal for Glory six minutes from the end of extra-time to send the game to penalties, but Seb Despotovski and Arion Sulemani both saw their efforts from the spot saved, while the hosts converted successfully on all four occasions to book their place in the last 16.
On a damp night in Queensland, Glory created the game’s first chance when Henry Hore and Adam Taggart combined neatly to fashion a shooting opportunity for the latter whose low effort from inside the box was blocked by a fine, sprawling save from Riley.
For the remainder of the first-half, however, it was Glory’s Matt Sutton who was the busier of the two goalkeepers.
Undaunted by the loss of leading scorer Alex Fiechtner to injury inside the opening ten minutes, the hosts went close on several occasions, notably through the lively Luke Broderick.
It was Broderick whose low strike was parried by Sutton after 17 minutes, before Jackson Hart-Phillips was denied in similar fashion.
And shortly before the break, Sutton thwarted Broderick twice in the space of a minute, firstly tipping away a 25m shot and then blocking a close-range effort from the resulting corner.
Glory looked more purposeful after the break, with Riley called into action to deny both Despotovski and Anthony Didulica, but neither side was able to make a breakthrough inside the regulation 90 minutes.
With both sides visibly tiring, the game opened up in extra-time and after Sutton had done well to save from Finn Beakhurst, fellow-substitute Lagos found the net with a sublime strike.
Blair Ponting almost made it 2-0 on the cusp of half-time in extra-time, but Glory responded well to that let-off and made it 1-1 nine minutes after the restart.
Substitute Sam Sutton was the creator, swinging in an inviting cross from the left which Lebib headed powerfully past Riley.
And so to penalties we went, but although Stefan Colakovski fired home Glory’s opener and Sam Sutton also found the net, those efforts bookended Riley’s saves from Despotovski and Sulemani which proved enough to secure a memorable Cupset for the Queenslanders.
Match Details
2026 Australia Cup Round of 32
Lions FC 1 (Lagos 95′) Perth Glory 1 (Lebib 109′) A.E.T.
Lions won 4-2 on penalties
Half-time: 0-0
Spencer Park
Referee: Tom Fell
Lions FC: 66.Jackson RILEY (gk), 3.Jackson HART-PHILLIPS, 5.Tommy JARRARD, 7.Alex FIECHTNER (4.Blair PONTING 10′), 8.Mitch HORE (23.Finn BEAKHURST 72′), 9.Luke BRODERICK (11.Jerson LAGOS 72′), 10.Rahmat AKBARI, 12.Shaun CARLOS (c), 14.Eremugo DEBELE, 17.Zane NORTH (2.Liam PONTING 84′), 18Cher DENG (13.Alex IRWIN 115′)
Substitutes not used: 1.Patrick SARTORIE (gk), 20.Fred OYET
Yellow Cards: North, Debele,
Red Cards: None
Perth Glory: 29.Matt SUTTON (gk), 2.Charbel SHAMOON (3.Sam SUTTON 56′), 12.Matt DENCH, 13.Henry HORE, 16.Lucas SCICLUNA (5.Lachlan JACKSON 101′), 24.Andriano LEBIB, 22.Adam TAGGART (c) (7.Stefan COLAKOVSKI 73′), 23.Anthony DIDULICA (17.Arion SULEMANI 73′), 25.Sebastian DESPOTOVSKI, 39.Giovanni DE ABREU (35.Ollie EVANS 73′), 45.Brian KALTAK
Substitutes not used: 4.Scott WOOTTON, 40.Ryan WARNER (gk)
Yellow Cards: Didulica, Despotovski, Lebib, Hore
Red Cards: None
#ONEGlory
Australia Cup Round of 32 Match Report: Glory downed by Lions in penalty shootout
