Glory’s first Liberty A-League home game in almost a year ended in defeat as Dylan Holmes’ first-half effort proved enough to clinch all three points for Adelaide United at Macedonia Park.
Watch full match highlights HERE.
The midfielder fired a Chelsie Dawber cross into the net in the 22nd minute and although Hana Lowry, Cyera Hintzen and Rylee Baisden all went close after the break, Glory were ultimately unable to find a way past the outstanding Annalee Grove in the Reds’ goal.
A healthy crowd did their best to get behind the home side on what was a blustery afternoon in Perth and Head Coach Alex Epakis was quick to acknowledge their support.
“The result was obviously disappointing, but I’m also disappointed for all the people that came out,” he said.
“They gave us everything and myself and the players really appreciated that.
“It was a performance where the two halves were completely different.
“We weren’t good enough in the first half.
“The wind played a part and we weren’t as sharp as we would have liked.
“We addressed that in the second half and really went after them, but it just wasn’t enough.
“The performance we had last week was strong and the performance this week was strong; we’re there, but we’re not quite there yet.
“I’m pretty sure that in the next couple of weeks, we’ll continue to find our groove.
“These are the teams we want to be competing with and we did compete today.”
Glory were a little slow out of the blocks and were made to pay by United who hit the front midway through the first half when Dawber picked out Holmes and her close-range finish gave Sarah Langman in the home goal no chance.
The Glory ‘keeper was duly called into action to keep Emilia Murray at bay with a sprawling save and when Yuyi Xiao followed up to poke the loose ball goalward, Rylee Baisden managed to clear off the line.
Although the hosts were unable to muster any serious efforts on goal in the opening 45 minutes, it was a very different story in the early stages of the second half as Cyera Hintzen drew a sharp save from Annalee Grove.
The Adelaide ‘keeper then did superbly well to block a Lowry shot with her feet, before diving bravely in front of the onrushing Hintzen as the American prepared to pull the trigger.
Grove’s heroics continued as she again used her legs effectively, this time to keep out a Rylee Baisden shot with 15 minutes left.
At that stage it looked inevitable that the women in purple would find a way through in the latter stages and claim a share of the spoils, but instead the Reds rallied and with Grove continuing to dominate her box, held on for a second successive 1-0 victory.
Match Details
Liberty A-League 2022/23 Season Round 2
Perth Glory 0 Adelaide United 1 (Holmes 19′)
Half-time: 0-1
Macedonia Park
Referee: Rebecca Durcau
Perth Glory: 20.Sarah LANGMAN (gk), 3.Kim CARROLL, 4.Natasha RIGBY (c), 7.Liz ANTON, 8.Hana LOWRY, 11.Rylee BAISDEN (10.Susan PHONSONGKHAM 64′), 12.Sofia SAKALIS (13.Sarah CAIN 60′), 15.Cyera HINTZEN, 16.Isabella WALLHEAD, 21.Ella MASTRANTONIO (17.Abbey GREEN 82′), 42.Gabriella COLEMAN (23.Alana JANCEVSKI 72′)
Substitutes not used: 1.Morgan AQUINO (gk)
Yellow Cards: Wallhead, Mastrantonio
Red Cards: None
Adelaide United: 1.Annalee GROVE (gk), 8.Emily CONDON (14.Meisha WESTLAND 69′), 9.Paige HAYWARD, 10.Chelsie DAWBER (6.Jenna McCORMICK 90+3′), 11.Isabel HODGSON (c), 12.Nanako SASAKI, 13.Ella TONKIN, 16.Dylan HOLMES, 19.Maruschka WALDUS, 21.Yuyi XIAO (7.MelindaJ BARBIERI 64′), 22.Emilia MURRAY (15.Katie BOWLER 64′)
Substitutes not used: 26.Grace WILSON (gk)
Yellow Cards: Hayward
Red Cards: None
#ONEGlory
