Perth Glory have been outgunned but certainly not outplayed in a 4-1 score line that belies the long periods of dominance, particularly in the first half, produced by the West Australians against Queensland at Suncorp Stadium.
Perth Glory have been outgunned but certainly not outplayed in a 4-1 score line that belies the long periods of dominance, particularly in the first half, produced by the West Australians against Queensland at Suncorp Stadium.
The Glory will look back and rue a two minute capitulation in injury time of the first half where the home side scored twice to take an undeserved lead into the break.
Both of the Roar-s first half goals coming from the attacking combination of Tahj Minniecon and Sergio van Dijk, Minniecon drawing a penalty from Glory defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley in the 45th minute which van Dijk converted before the big Dutchman turned provider moments later as his inviting ball into the box found the young striker at the back post for a tap in.
It was a frustrating end to a half where Perth held the upper hand for all but a few moments with the Glory able to create plenty of chances but unfortunately couldn-t find the opening when it counted the most.
Roar-s Scottish terrier Charlie Miller extended the lead 10 minutes after the restart and another to Mitch Nichols in the 81st minute ensured the Roar weren-t about to let another one slip at home, picking up full points for the first time this season in front of their home fans.
Glory striker Jamie Harnwell managed to get one back on 57 minutes but it was the only success Perth could produce despite plenty of great lead-up play.
“They say goals change games and that-s exactly what happened to us,” Glory Coach Dave Mitchell said.
“We dominated the first half, created some really good chances to score and if we had capitalised on them we could have gone on and win the game.
“People that weren-t at the game might say we got battered 4-1 by Queensland but it certainly wasn-t the case but (the result) was disappointing obviously,” Mitchell said.
The first 45 minutes were all Perth with Adriano Pellegrino proving to be a handful on the right with some inviting crosses while on the left Adrian Trinidad made the most of his fourth start this season with a quality performance on the wing.
The visitors could have had the lead after just seven minutes after a great build-up and a well delivered cross from Pellegrino found Harnwell on the back post but the ball skidded on the bumpy turf to rebound off his thigh and over the crossbar.
With Glory-s midfield well on top the chances kept flowing, Pellegrino again delivering a beautiful ball which found Rukavytsya in space and the fleet footed youngster turned to get clear on goal but a lunging Luke DeVere tackle managed to avert the danger.
Perth-s willingness to knock the ball around to find the best option was proving to be a good tactic and the only thing letting them down was their finishing.
On 38 minutes another great move founded Trinidad at the top of the box and his powerful shot cannoned into the pitch and was on its way into the goal had it not been for the outstretched hand of Liam Reddy to parry it just centimetres wide of the post.
Glory-s dominance was turned to despair as the clock wound down to finish the half with Minniecon using his pace to get in behind the Glory defence where he tangled with Topor-Stanley to draw the penalty on the by-line.
The conversion from van Dijk deflated Perth and they would have been even more annoyed when a second was conceded just two minutes later.
Glory tried hard in the second half and they were finally rewarded when Rukavytsya and Harnwell combined to find the back of the net but it was the only joy Perth could enjoy on a fruitless night despite their best efforts.
“On a team level our spirits are still high. They might have banged in four goals but it wasn-t a reflection on our performance today and we just have to pick ourselves up now,” said Glory midfielder Adriano Pellegrino.
“We-ve got a run of two games at home where we have to pick up points,” Pellegrino said.
Hyundai A-League Rd 12
Queensland Roar 4 (Sergio Van Dijk 45- (pen), Tahj Minniecon 47+-, Charlie Miller 55-, Mitch Nichols 81-)
Perth Glory 1 (Jamie Harnwell 57-)
Sunday 23 November at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Referee: Peter Green
Crowd: 9118
Perth Glory line-up: 30.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 2.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 4.Jamie COYNE (c), 5.Jamie HARNWELL, 6.Dino DJULBIC, 9.Adrian TRINIDAD, 13.Nikita RUKAVYTSYA, 16.Adriano PELLEGRINO (25.Marc ANTHONY 86-), 17.James DOWNEY (14.Eugene DADI 66-), 19.Naum SEKULOVSKI, 22.Wayne SRHOJ
Substitutes not used: 1.Jason PETKOVIC (gk), 3.David TARKA
Yellow Cards: Nikolai Topor-Stanley 45-, Wayne Srhoj 77-
Red Cards: Nil
Queensland Roar line-up: 1.Liam REDDY (gk), 2.Andrew PACKER, 3.Luke DEVERE, 4.Craig MOORE (c), 5.Josh McCLOUGHAN, 7.Michael ZULLO (23.Tim SMITS 87-), 8.Massimo MURDOCCA, 9.Sergio VAN DIJK, 10.Charlie MILLER, 12.Tahj MINNIECON (17.Mitch NICHOLS 66-), 15.Matthew McKAY
Substitutes not used: 20.Griffin McMASTER (gk), 14.Ben GRIFFIN
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
