Nick D’Agostino led the way with a six-minute hat-trick as Glory eased to a resounding 9-1 win over Murdoch University and Melville FC in Wednesday’s pre-season friendly at Dorrien Gardens.
Bruno Fornaroli (2), Tomislav Mrcela, Ivan Franjic, Gabriel Popovic and an own-goal from the luckless Ryan Tucker completed the scoring for Glory on a night that saw new recruits Kim Soo-beom and Osama Malik make their debuts for the club and Alex Grant complete his return to action after a six-month absence through injury.
Having used 22 players over the course of the 90 minutes, Head Coach Tony Popovic declared himself pleased with his side’s latest outing.
“It was a good hit-out for us,” he said, “and it was a good experience for Murdoch University Melville who played a lot of their young players on a night that I’m sure they’ll remember.
“We got no injuries, it was nice to get some minutes into Kim and see some combination play between Diego [Castro] and Bruno [Fornaroli].
“Nick D’Agostino scoring some goals was nice to see, as was Osama [Malik] coming through 45 minutes unscathed having started pre-season a bit later and Alex [Grant] coming on after such a long lay-off.
“There were so many positives, not just in the performance but in players getting minutes and getting through.
“There were a lot of good things and it’s all working towards Round One.”
The first goal of the night arrived after 14 minutes when Castro teed up Fornaroli for a close-range finish and the Uruguayan struck again for the second, firing home after MUMFC ‘keeper Alec Radonich had done well to parry Castro’s initial effort.
Jake Brimmer’s corners, meanwhile, had been causing the visitors’ defence problems from the off and it was from another of the midfielder’s pinpoint deliveries into the box that goal number three arrived on 34 minutes as Tucker inadvertently diverted the ball into his own net.
Glory’s fourth also arrived from a Brimmer corner, this time Mrcela rising highest in a crowded box to power home an unstoppable header.
D’Agostino was one of seven substitutes introduced by Popovic at the start of the second half and he wasted no time in making his mark.
Bryce Bafford teed him up for his first, before the former Brisbane Roar man pounced on an error from Radonich to bag his second and Glory’s sixth.
And the 21-year-old duly sealed his hat-trick two minutes later, this time heading home another fine cross from the lively Bafford.
The biggest cheer of the night was reserved for Adrian Ciampini who pulled one back for Gavin Brown’s side almost immediately, but normal service was swiftly restored as Franjic slid home a low ball across the box from Bafford and with six minutes left, Gabriel Popovic rounded off the scoring with a shot from just inside the box.
Match Details
Perth Glory 9 (Fornaroli 14′, 28′, Tucker o.g. 34′, Mrcela 40′, D’Agostino 49′, 53′, 55′, Franjic 70′, Popovic 84′) Murdoch University Melville FC 1 (Ciampini 57′)
Half-time: 4-0
Dorrien Gardens
Perth Glory: 33.Liam REDDY (1.Tando VELAPHI 46′), 7.Joel CHIANESE (24.Bryce BAFFORD 46′), 10.Bruno FORNAROLI (18.Nick D’AGOSTINO 46′), 12.Soo-beom KIM (5.Ivan FRANJIC 46′), 13.Osama MALIK (23.Jayden LEADER 46′), 15.Brandon WILSON (22.Riley WARLAND 60′), 16.Tomislav MRCELA (2.Alex GRANT 60′), 17.Diego CASTRO (c) (26.Luke BODNAR 46′), 20.Jake BRIMMER (28.Gabriel POPOVIC 60′), 25.Ethan BROOKS (3.Jacob TRATT 60′), 27.Juande (88.Neil KILKENNY 46′)
Substitutes not used: None
Yellow Cards: None
Red Cards: None
Murdoch University Melville FC: 21.Alec RADONICH (GK), 2.Beau Abdul RAHIM, 3.Tom PELLIZZARI, 5.Ryan TUCKER, 6.Broden BROWN, 7.Anthony LOMMA, 8.Mark LUCAS, 9.Christian LONG, 10.Sasa SLAVUJEVIC, 11.Declan TANNA, 12.Callum MELLOWSHIP
Substitutes: 1.Joseph GAN (GK), 4.Kai JONES, 13.Scott CAMPBELL, 14.Brett TUCKER, 15.Grant MOWATT, 18.Gareth SPIRES, 19.Josip VUJICA, 20.Adrian CIAMPINI, 22.Dan DAVEY, 23.Nick DEL BORRELLO, 24.Jason DE GENNARO,
Yellow Cards: None
Red Cards: None
#OneGlory
