A stunning second-half strike from Jordi Valadon proved the difference between the two sides as Melbourne Victory secured a 1-0 win in Sunday’s pre-season friendly in Mandurah.
Click HERE to view Head Coach David Zdrilic’s post-match reflections
A bumper crowd of over 2000 flocked to Peelwood Reserve to see the opening game of Glory’s Regional South West Tour and they witnessed a hard-fought clash in which clear-cut chances were at something of a premium.
Lining up in a 3-5-2 formation, Glory began brightly in sunny conditions, dominating for much of the first half in terms of both possession and territory.
Jaiden Kucharski went close with an early half-chance and the dangerous Sam Sutton fired over the bar when well placed, while Victory responded with a header from former Glory man Keegan Jelacic which lacked the power to trouble Mark Birighitti.
But the best chance of the half came in the final minute when Sutton’s inswinging free-kick was headed narrowly over the bar by Josh Risdon.
Within three minutes of the restart, Glory were left ruing that miss as Valadon capped a surging run to the edge of the box by rifling an unstoppable strike past Birighitti and into the bottom corner of the net.
That goal seemed to lift the navy-and-whites who proceeded to enjoy their best spell of the game either side of the hour-mark, but as the shadows began to lengthen at Peelwood Reserve, it was Glory who finished on the front foot.
Sutton’s set-piece delivery continued to cause problems and it was from one of the New Zealander’s corners that Josh Anasmo almost snatched a stoppage-time equaliser for the men in purple.
The ball fell kindly for the Glory substitute amidst a crowded box, but he saw his effort saved at point-blank range by Victory ‘keeper Jack Warshawsky.
The two sides will meet again in the second game of the Regional South West Tour at Hay Park in Bunbury on Wednesday (24 September).
Kick-off is at 6:30pm and tickets are available HERE.
Match Details
Regional South West Tour Game One
Perth Glory 0 Melbourne Victory 1 (Valadon 48′)
Half-time: 0-0
Sunday 21 September 2025
Peelwood Reserve, Mandurah
Referee: Shane Skinner
Perth Glory:1.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 3.Sam SUTTON, 4.Scott WOOTTON (c), 6.Brandon O’NEILL (25.Sebastian DESPOTOVSKI 83′), 8.Callum TIMMINS (12.Taras GOMULKA 74′), 9.Jaiden KUCHARSKI (16.Gabriel POPOVIC 74′), 14.Nathanael BLAIR (17.Arion SULEMANI 46′), 19.Josh RISDON (31.Joel ANASMO 74′), 27.Will FRENEY (7.Nicholas PENNINGTON 46′) (20.Trent OSTLER 74′) 28.Kaelan MAJEKODUNMI, 45.Brian KALTAK
Substitutes not used: 26.Khoa NGO, 33.Daniel JANKULOSKI, 50.Ryan WARNER(gk)
Yellow Cards: O’Neill
Red Cards: None
Melbourne Victory: 25.Jack DUNCAN (gk), 3.Adama TRAORE, 4.Lachlan JACKSON, 8.Jordi VALADON, 9.Nikolaos VERGOS, 10.Denis GENREAU, 14.Matthew GRIMALDI, 21.Roderick MIRANDA, 22.Josh RAWLINS, 23.Keegan JELACIC, 27.Louis D’ARRIGO
Substitutes: 2.Jason DAVIDSON, 11.Clerismario SANTOS RODRIGUES, 19.Jing REEC, 28.Kayne RAZMOVSKI, 31.Daniel LAVARESKI, 40.Oscar VON SCHRENK, 41.Malik OLUKHALE, 42.Xavier STELLA, 44.George MIHAILIDES, 50.Jack WARSHAWSKY
Yellow Cards: Miranda, Rodrigues
Red Cards: None
#ONEGlory
Match Report: Valadon strike secures win for Victory in hard-fought Mandurah friendly
