Unheralded Glory midfielder Scott Bulloch is hoping his goal in Perth’s 2-0 win over Sydney FC at ME Bank Stadium is the turning point in a frustrating season that has been blighted by injury.
Unheralded Glory midfielder Scott Bulloch is hoping his goal in Perth’s 2-0 win over Sydney FC at ME Bank Stadium is the turning point in a frustrating season that has been blighted by injury.
Following a successful debut in 2008/09 the 25 year old was confident of increasing his output and consolidating a place in Glory-s starting eleven but his second Hyundai A-League campaign has been anything but smooth sailing.
An achilles injury curtailed his output for most of the campaign and subsequently limited Bulloch to just four games. Sunday’s win over the Sky Blues his first appearance in the run-on side this season.
After a typically hard working performance in the opening half Bulloch summoned all his energy for one last effort and in the 57th minute was rewarded as he put Perth in front with a well taken header.
In a year that had been forgettable for many reasons Bulloch could enjoy being the man of the moment and he admitted there were plenty of emotions going through his mind when he saw the ball hit the back of the net.
“I thought about taking the shirt off and all that type of thing,” Bulloch said.
“I had about 65 different celebrations all in my mind.
“There and just no words to describe the feeling, I was just really happy. It has been a really long three months.”
“Mitch (Coach Dave Mitchell) told me to work hard in the Youth Team and I-d get a chance and it all came together today… it was nice to get a goal.”
The Glory taking the lead appeared a dim possibility during an underwhelming first half, where Mitchell’s charges struggled to gel after a number of forced positional changes caused by Wayne Srhoj’s suspension and an illness to Mile Sterjovksi, who was played off the bench.
Aware his side might struggle for fluency early on, Mitchell asked his men to produce a big defensive effort, a call they responded to as Sydney was mainly restricted to long-range shots at goal, despite Alex Brosque looking threatening.
But the half-time introduction of Sterjovski changed the tempo of the match. The Qantas Socceroo threatened Sydney’s back four with a series of creative attacks down the left, while Victor Sikora, himself coming back from a hamstring strain, added more quality when he replaced Bulloch.
Sterjovski then underlined his class as he latched onto a great pass from Andy Todd before bursting forward and squaring the ball for Branko Jelic to seal the deal with two minutes remaining.
“The first half we always expected to be difficult because of the amount of changes,” Mitchell said.
“That was always going to be tough but the game plan worked, clean sheet at half-time and we then could introduce the players when we saw fit.
“If we had of started Mile and started Victor, then in the second half their intensity would have dropped a little bit.
“It was our intention to do what we did and fortunately it paid off,” he said.
