Perth Glory Women have handed reigning Westfield W-League champs Brisbane their first defeat of the season with a sensational 2-1 win at Clipsal Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Perth Glory Women have handed reigning Westfield W-League champs Brisbane their first defeat of the season with a sensational 2-1 win at Clipsal Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
In just her second match for the Glory, Matildas striker Katie Gill nailed a delightful double to deliver Perth the retribution they had worked so hard to achieve following a thrashing at the hands of the Roar just a month ago.
The win is easily Perth-s biggest scalp in their two Westfield W-League campaigns and is just the second defeat inflicted on a powerful Brisbane outfit in as many seasons.
Perth Coach John Gibson was delighted with the way his young side prepared and played against their highly fancied rivals.
“Certainly we knew it would be a tough back end of the season but we trusted everything we have done this year and the girls worked really hard,” Gibson said.
“They girls deserve everything they got. We rode our luck a little bit at times but they just worked their backsides off for each other and that was fantastic.
“All the departments, from our defenders to our midfielders to our forwards, were fantastic today and it was really pleasing.”
In hot and difficult conditions, it looked like it would be a long day for the home side when they conceded after just 11 minutes. Lana Harch-s through ball dissected the Perth defence on its way to Courtney Beutel and her strike sailed over the head of the advancing Emma Wirkus to give the visitors the lead.
Despite the early setback Glory didn-t drop their heads and responded by maintaining possession and were rewarded six minutes later with the equaliser from Gill.
Midfielder Elisa D-Ovidio dispossessed the Roar in a 50/50 midfield battle and distributed to Sam Kerr on the wing. Kerr-s deep cross hit up a waiting Katie Gill at the back post and she headed home her first goal for Glory.
Buoyed by the breakthrough, the home side looked to go ahead just minutes later when winger Dani Calautti-s cross spotted Kerr on the edge of the penalty area however Kerr-s well-guided header landed just wide of the target.
Rattled by the tenacious attack the defending champions stepped up and tried to hit back through a flurry of chances late in the half. Joanne Burgess shot high over the cross bar while Beutel just failed to get any purchase on a Harch cross.
Brisbane came out of the break fired up and went close to taking the lead three minutes after the restart. Ellen Beaumont worked her way past the Glory defence before Wirkus denied her with a wonderful near-post reflex save.
After the initial Brisbane dominance the second half settled into an even contest before Perth eventually made the decisive breakthrough.
After winning the corner for Perth, Gill latched on the loose ball in the penalty area and the forward had no problem dispatching a volley back past Casey Dumont to send the crowd into raptures.
Minutes later the home side had a golden opportunity to put the game to bed but enough pressure was applied to Elisa D-Vidio resulting in the midfielder placing her shot high and wide.
The Roar mounted a final challenge for a point and it was the ever present Gill who denied them as she cleared Elise Kellond-Knight-s effort on the goal line.
“Katie did exceptionally well for us today. She is a wonderful asset to the group and adds a bit of experience and some leadership. It was quality play today by her and Sam [Kerr] and it was good to see,” Gibson said.
“For us now it is about getting positive results and moving forward. We have a really young group so I am looking forward to progressing with them next year.”
Perth will host Melbourne Victory in the final match of the season on Saturday 5 December at Clipsal Stadium from 5.15pm. The match is a double header with the Perth Glory Youth taking on Brisbane Roar at 3.00pm.
Westfield W-League 2009: Rd 9
Perth Glory 2 (Katie GILL 17-/63-)
Brisbane Roar 1 (Courtney BEUTEL 11-)
Saturday 28 November 2009 at Clipsal Stadium, Perth
Referee: Rebecca Durcau
Assistant referee: Tim Mihevc and Trent Fleskens
Fourth official: Josh Mihevc
Perth Glory line-up: 1.Emma WIRKUS (GK), 3.Carys HAWKINS, 4.Sam KERR, 5.Shannon MAY, 6.Ella MASTRANTONIO, 8.Tanya OXTOBY (c), 9.Dani CALAUTTI, 12.Katie GILL, 13.Elisa D-OVIDIO, 15.Alex SINGER, 17.Marianna TABAIN
Substitutes Not Used: 16.Sadie LAWRENCE, 18.Ellis GLANFIELD, 19.Katarina JUKIC, 20.Zoe PALANDRI (gk)
Yellow Cards: Katie GILL 61-, Elisa D-OVIDIO 72-, Marianna TABAIN 90-
Red Cards: Nil
Brisbane Roar line-up: 1.Casey DUMONT (gk) 2.Kate MCSHEA, 3.Karla REUTER, 4.Clare POLKINGHORNE (c), 6.Joanne BURGESS, 8.Elise KELLOND-KNIGHT, 10.Lana HARCH, 11.Aivi LUIK, 13.Tameka BUTT, 18.Courtney BEUTEL, 19.Ellen BEAUMONT
Substitutes Not Used: 7.Pam BIGNOLD, 12.Steph LATHAM, 15.Leah CURTIS, 20.Kate STEWART (gk)
Yellow Cards: Ellen BEAUMONT 86-, Karla REUTER 90-
Red Cards: Nil
