Glory suffered their first defeat of pre-season on Saturday as the Gold Fields Australia WA Men’s State Team ran out 1-0 winners in the annual Gold Fields Challenge Cup match at Percy Doyle Reserve.
WA skipper Kristian Santich grabbed the only goal of the game seven minutes from time after Giordano Colli had missed Glory’s best chance of the afternoon when he saw his penalty saved by John Perkins.
While Richard Garcia’s men dominated possession for long periods, it was the State Team who created the better chances in the first half, Bojan Radinovic forcing a smart save from Cameron Cook inside the opening five minutes and Cameron Teece firing narrowly wide on the stroke of half-time.
Glory upped the tempo after the break and looked to have earned their reward when substitute Joel Anasmo’s surging run into the box was ended by a desperate foul from Jordan Brown.
Colli, however, opted to go almost straight down the middle with the resulting spot-kick and having stood his ground, Perkins was able to claw the ball away.
Glory were left to rue that miss seven minutes from time when Ndumba Makeche’s acrobatic bicycle kick was only partially cleared and the onrushing Santich gleefully hammered home the loose ball.
Match Details
Gold Fields Australia WA Men’s State Team 1 (Santich 83′) Perth Glory 0
Half-time: 0-0
Referee: Matthew Southern
Gold Fields Australia WA Men’s State Team: 1.Ryan MONTGOMERY (GK), 4.Chris SALDARIS, 5.Bojan RADINOVIC, 6.Calvin WHITNEY, 9.Jesse LAZZARO, 10.Konstantinos SPARTA, 11.Cameron TEECE, 17.Kristian SANTICH (c), 19.Michael DOMFEH, 23.Sean MACMANUS, 25.Lachlan BIRD
Substitutes: 3.Jordan BROWN, 7.Steve SOKOL, 12.John PERKINS (GK), 14.Nick AMBROGIO, 15.Jonathan STYNES, 16.Ollie ANNIS, 18.Alex SILLA, 24.Ndumba MAKECHE
Perth Glory: 1.Cameron COOK (GK), 5.Jonathan ASPROPOTAMITIS, 10.Andy KEOGH, 13.Luke BODNAR, 14.Jack CLISBY, 16.Brandon O’NEILL, 17.Stefan VALENTINI, 22.Josh RAWLINS, 24.Daniel STYNES, 29.Darryl LACHMAN, 32.Pacifique NIYONGABIRE
Substitutes: 6.Joseph FORDE, 8.Will FORMSTON, 14.Jack ANDREWS, 15.Lewis TUCKER, 19.Chris DONNELL, 20.Jacob MUIR, 23.Josh ANASMO, 25.Aidan COYNE, 26.Giordano COLLI, 30.Keegan GRANT (GK), 31.Adam ZIMARINO, 38.Ciaran BRAMWELL
(picture courtesy of Fotoenzo)
#OneGlory
