Perth Glory’s perfect home record in pre-season continued with a 5-0 win over Inglewood United at Intiga Stadium on Wednesday night.
Perth Glory-s perfect home record in pre-season continued with a 5-0 win over Inglewood United at Intiga Stadium on Wednesday night.
32 days out from their opening Hyundai A-League game against Brisbane Roar, Perth Glory overcame a spirited local State League side, with two goals from Jacob Burns, two to Steven McGarry and one to Nick Ward, his first of the pre-season.
“I was pleased we controlled the game, Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson said.
“I thought we played out from the back really well, and were patient.
“Credit to Inglewood, they made it difficult for us but I was pleased we were able to get 90 minutes into most players.”
With Shane Smeltz away on international duty with New Zealand, and Brandon O-Neill and Jesse Makarounas selected for the Qantas Young Socceroos, Perth Glory captain Burns was restored to the starting line-up after missing the last two pre-season fixtures against the WA State Team and Bayswater City.
Adrian Zahra was also given a starting berth, and once again impressed on the left hand side, whilst Travis Dodd too looked lively from the opening whistle, and was unlucky not to open the scoring in the 17th minute, with Dave Perich blocking the wingers half-volley near the goal line.
Zahra was then well denied by Inglewood goalkeeper Francis Soale in the 25th minute after some nimble work in the box, before Billy Mehmet narrowly fired over two minutes later with a fierce left foot shot from 20-yards.
Mehmet, who has regularly led the line in the absence of Smeltz during pre-season, continued to trouble the Inglewood defence throughout the first half, with a 6-yard effort well saved by Soale in the 28th minute, before turning provider six minutes later as his goal-bound header from a Liam Miller corner was headed home from two yards by McGarry.
Fortune then favoured McGarry a minute later, as his 18-yard effort took a large deflection off Ryan Lowry-s outstretched leg to make it two for himself and the Glory.
The lead though could easily have been halved in the 38th minute as Ryan Clarke was sent goal-bound by Michael Baczynski, but the winger was brilliantly tracked down by Josh Risdon, who again showed why he was recently awarded the Players- Player of the Year with a perfect sliding block.
After the break, Clarke provided the Glory with another nervous moment, as his curling 20-yard shot from the corner of the box forced a fingertip save from Danny Vukovic, before Burns quashed any hopes of an Inglewood comeback with a smartly taken quick free kick around the wall from 20 yards.
Soale then has a moment to forget seven minutes from time, as he spilled a highball to present Nick Ward with a simple tap in, before Burns rounded out the scoring in the final minute with a sliding finish from close range.
Perth Glory-s next pre-season game will be on Wednesday, September 12 against the WA State team at Intiga Stadium, Inglewood. The squad will then spend five days in Melbourne with games against the Victory (September 19) and Heart (September 22).
