Perth Glory will again have to play catch-up football after coming unstuck against Central Coast at Bluetongue Stadium on Friday night.
Perth Glory will again have to play catch-up football after coming unstuck against Central Coast at Bluetongue Stadium on Friday night.
After righting their defensive woes last weekend to keep a clean sheet the Glory slipped into old habits to concede four to the Mariners who looked dangerous in every attacking foray.
Despite Perth producing a far superior effort at the back in the second half, the damage had already been done with the home side racing to a three goal buffer at the break.
“The defending hasn-t been good but we have to defend as a team and it is very disappointing,” said Glory Coach Dave Mitchell after the match.
“You always have to play catch-up and catch-up football is very difficult,” Mitchell said.
Glory striker Eugene Dadi worked tirelessly and looked the most threatening in front of goal for Perth and could have given them the perfect start when he bustled his way into space after 4 minutes only to spray his shot across Mark Bosnich-s goal.
Two minutes later Bosnich was limping from the ground after the former Manchester Untied keeper injured his leg attempting a goal kick.
Glory failed to make the most of the Mariners forced substitution and was picking the ball from the back of their net a short time later. A defensive mix-up allowed Sasho Petrovski to be one-on-one with Glory custodian Jason Petkovic and while his initial shot hit the upright Petrovski was there to collect the rebound and put Perth on the back foot.
A wonderfully taken long range free kick put the Mariners two up then former Perth player Adrian Caceres made it three for the home side in the opening 45 minutes.
“I think before they scored we did well, we created a chance and if we had buried that then the confidence would have been there, instead the first time they attacked us they scored and then we-ve capitulated which was disappointing,” said Mitchell.
Naum Sekulovski entering the fray to start the second half and took over at left back while Nikolai Topor-Stanley moved in central defence with David Tarka rested after picking up a caution in the opening stanza.
The move gave the defence a new look and it worked for Perth who looked more assured as the game wore on and on 63 minutes their work was rewarded with a goal to Nikita Rukavytsya.
The young striker was the recipient of some excellent work by Adriano Pellegrino and Wayne Srhoj, the latter of whom delivered a bullet across the goal mouth where Rukavytsya was positioned for the tap in.
Unfortunately the Glory-s celebrations were short lived as Matthew Osman restored the Mariners three goal lead just a minute later.
“We had a few shots and created a few chances but every time we did something good we-d then go and shoot ourselves in the foot,” Mitchell said.
“The Mariners are a very good side but we let ourselves down and I know we can do much better than that. This game is about taking your chances in front of goal and being able to defend at the other end and unfortunately we-re not doing either at the minute.”
Local Perth product Scott Bulloch was again impressive on the left wing while Srhoj tried hard in midfield and will benefit from his second outing in purple as he gains full match fitness.
Perth-s next assignment will be against Melbourne Victory at Telstra Dome next Saturday night.
Central Coast 4 (Petrovski 9-, Jedinak 29-, Caceres 41-, Osman 64-)
Perth Glory 1 (Rukavytsya 63-)
Referee: Mark Shield
Crowd: 8,016
Central Coast: 40.Mark BOSNICH (gk) (30.Andrew REDMAYNE (gk) 6-), 4.Pedj BOJIC, 5.Bradley PORTER, 7.John HUTCHINSON, 10.Adrian CACERES, 16.Nigel BOOGAARD, 17.Matthew OSMAN, 18.Alex WILKINSON, 19.Matt SIMON, 22.Sasho PETROVSKI (11.Dylan MACALLISTER 74-), 23.Mile JEDINAK (15.Andrew CLARK 58-)
Unused Subs: 13.Paul O-GRADY
Yellow Cards: Simon 20-, Jedinak 39-, Petrovski 58-, Bojic 79-
Red Cards: nil
Perth Glory: 1.Jason PETKOVIC (gk), 2.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 3.David TARKA (19.Naum SEKULOVSKI 46-), 4.Jamie COYNE, 5.Jamie HARNWELL, 8.James ROBINSON, 11.Scott BULLOCH, 13.Nikita RUKAVYTSYA (9.Adrian TRINIDAD 74-), 14.Eugene DADI, 16.Adriano PELLEGRINO, 22.Wayne SRHOJ
Unused Subs: 20.Frank JURIC (gk), 27.Stuart McLAREN
Yellow Cards: Tarka 38-, Trinidad 90-+2
Red Cards: nil
