Glory were unable to secure a spot in the 2023 Australia Cup Round of 32 as they went down 4-0 to holders Macarthur FC in Tuesday night’s Playoff at Darwin’s Larrakia Park.
The men in purple were unable to recover after falling behind to an own-goal from the luckless Oli Sail inside the opening two minutes, with Lachlan Rose and Jake Hollman subsequently finding the net to open up a 3-0 lead for the Bulls at half-time.
And although Glory improved significantly after the break and created a string of chances, the only goal of the second half went the way of Mile Sterjovski’s side as substitute Jed Drew capitalised upon a Sail error before slotting into an empty net.
Seeking to secure a place in the Round of 32 for the first time since 2019, the nominal “home” side found themselves trailing almost immediately after Rhys Youlley found Jesper Weber and his low cross caused a scramble which culminated in the ball deflecting off Jordan Elsey and then Sail on its way into the net.
1-0 soon became 2-0 as Rose was played in on goal and applied a composed finish and shortly after the half-hour mark, Hollman claimed the Bulls’ third as his bobbling effort from just outside the box squirmed its way into the corner of the net.
To their credit, Glory produced a far more convincing display after the break and were unfortunate not to secure a foothold in the game on several occasions.
After Elsey headed an Aaron McEneff set-piece narrowly wide, substitute Luke Ivanovic sent his shot across the face of goal and narrowly wide of the far post.
Ivanovic duly went even closer moments later, this time firing just past the other post following fine approach work from another second-half substitute, Daniel Bennie.
Having been frustrated in their bid to haul themselves back into the contest, Glory were hit with a sucker-punch nine minutes from time when Sail was caught in possession by Drew who proceeded to walk the ball home to complete the scoring and set up a date with South Australian NPL side, Campbelltown City.
Match Details
2023 Australia Cup Playoff
Perth Glory 0 Macarthur FC 4 (Sail (o.g.) 2′, Rose 19′. Hollman 34′, Drew 81′))
Half-time: 0-3
Larrakia Park, Darwin
Referee: Daniel Elder
Perth Glory: 1.Oli SAIL (GK), 2.John KOUTROUMBIS, 6.Aaron MCENEFF, 10.Salim KHELIFI (18.David WILLIAMS 57′), 15.Jordan ELSEY, 20.Giordano COLLI, 22.Adam TAGGART (C) (12.Luke IVANOVIC 57′), 28.Trent OSTLER (48.Joel ANASMO 66′), 29.Darryl LACHMAN, 36.Joseph FORDE, 77.Stefan COLAKOVSKI (31.Daniel BENNIE 66′)
Substitutes not used: 30.Robert COOK (GK), 32.Kaelan MAJEKODUNMI, 44.Jaylan PEARMAN
Yellow Cards: None
Red Cards: None
Macarthur FC: 1.Alex ROBINSON (GK), 6.Tomislav USKOK (5.Jonathan ASPROPOTAMITIS 71′), 8.Jake HOLLMAN, 11.Kearyn BACCUS (24.Kokola M’MBOMWA 46′), 16.Oliver JONES, 17.Raphael Borges RODRIGUES (37.Jed DREW56′), 19.Jesper WEBER (36.Ali AUGLAH 56′), 31.Lachlan ROSE (C), 32.Isaac HORVAR, 44.Matt MILLAR (53.Joel BERTOLISSIO 67′), 52.Rhys YOULLEY
Substitutes not used: 12.Filip KURTO (GK)
Yellow Cards: Millar, M’Mbomwa
Red Cards: None
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