Second-half goals from Seb Despotovski and Lucas Scicluna eased Glory to a well-deserved 2-0 pre-season friendly win over Adelaide United in Bunbury on Sunday.
Backed by an enthusiastic crowd of over 1100 at Hay Park, Glory dominated for much of the game and were rewarded with two goals in the space of eight minutes at the start of the second half.
Despotovski claimed the first just seconds after the restart, forcing home from close-range and off-season arrival Scicluna then opened his account for the club by sweeping home a low shot.
The result was all the more impressive given that it marked just Glory’s second pre-season outing, while United are in the midst of an AFC Champions League 2 campaign.
There was little to choose between the two sides during the early exchanges, but Adam Griffiths’ men began to take control as the first half wore on.
Henry Hore sent a shot narrowly wide before Tadi Kuzamba’s persistence enabled Sebastian Kukucka to tee up Despotovski who was desperately unfortunate to see his 20m strike rattle the crossbar.
Despotovski’s luck changed early in the second half, however, as he chased down an under-hit back pass and although his initial effort was blocked, when Stefan Colakovski returned the ball into the six-yard box, the 21-year-old was on hand to bundle it over the line.
That goal brought the crowd to life and they were given more to shout about moments later when Glory doubled their lead.
This time Riley Foxe saw a low strike parried by United ‘keeper Joshua Smits, Colakovski again reacted quickly to send the ball back into the box and Scicluna capped an impressive overall performance by dispatching it into the bottom corner.
Only a fine fingertip save from Smits prevented the lively Kukucka from making it 3-0 on the hour-mark and even after both sides made a raft of changes, it was still the men in purple who continued to look the more likely.
New recruit Matt Ellis, on his home debut, drew a fine save from fellow-substitute Max Vartuli and even when Adelaide did manage to create a rare clearcut chance right at the death, Daniel Solsky was out quickly to foil the onrushing Juan Muniz.
The two sides will meet again on Sunday in the second game of Glory’s 2026 Regional Roadie at Northam’s Henry Street Oval.
Kick-off is at 2pm – tickets available HERE.
#ONEGlory
Match Details
Regional Pre-Season Tour Game One
Perth Glory 2 (Despotovski 46′, Scicluna 54′) Adelaide United 0
Half-time: 0-0
Hay Park, Bunbury
Sunday 27 September 2026
Referee: Finn Johnson
Attendance: 1136
Perth Glory: 29.Daniel SOLSKY (GK), 5.Lachie JACKSON (76.Lewis DONNELLY 78′), 7.Stefan COLAKOVSKI (C) (72.Louis SOLLITT 61′), 11.Sebastian KUKUCKA (73.Achnaff SAYON 65′), 13.Henry HORE (21.Matt ELLIS 61′), 16.Lucas SCICLUNA (36.Ollie EVANS 84′), 18.Cher DENG (75.Nikola PAVIC 73′), 25.Sebastian DESPOTOVSKI (9.Tom LAWRENCE 73′), 27.Will FRENEY (71.Henri KNIGHT 61′), 30.Tadi KUZAMBA, 44.Riley FOXE
Substitutes not used: 1.Matt SUTTON (GK), 74.Alfie KNIGHT
Yellow Cards: Deng, Evans
Red Cards: None
Adelaide United: 22.Joshua SMITS (GK) (13.Max VARTULI (GK), 66′), 4.Panagiotis KIKIANIS, 11.Craig GOODWIN, 12.Jonny YULL (17.Ben FOLAMI 76′), 14.Jay BARNETT (10.Juan MUNIZ 66′), 21.Jacob BRAZETE (58.Harry CRAWFORD 73′), 23.Luke DUZEL (65.Joey GARUCCIO 76′), 27.Mitchell SMITH (87.Anselmo DE MORAES 66′), 36.Brody BURKITT (79.Feyzo KASUMOVIC 66′), 52.Soririos PHILLIS (71.Vinko STANISIC 76′), 55.Ethan ALAGICH (99.Ajak RIAK, 66′)
Substitutes not used: 40.Ethan COX
Yellow Cards: De Moraes
Red Cards: None
#ONEGlory
Match Report: Glory secure impressive pre-season win over Adelaide in Bunbury
