We thought we’d give the Naum TV videos a rest this week and instead revert to using a still image as our portal to past glories.
December 2nd 2007 was the date, nib Stadium the venue and a 3-1 win over Melbourne Victory the very welcome result for the home faithful.
Now, the man pictured, James Robinson, was not among Glory’s goalscorers that day.
Indeed, the former Crewe Alexandra forward found the net just twice during his 21 appearances in purple having drawn a blank in his single season with Victory (2006-07).
But the diminutive Liverpudlian was no stranger to an assist and claimed one for Glory’s second goal in this Round 15 clash with the navy-and-whites when he played in Nikita Rukavytsya and the future Socceroo found the net with his trusty left foot.
By half time, however, former Glory man Adrian Caceres had halved the arrears, leaving the game very much in the balance at the start of the second half.
And bearing in mind that the home side had only recorded one victory from their previous 14 games that year, the majority of the crowd of 8,030 could have been forgiven for being more than a little edgy when referee Ben Williams’ whistle signalled the restart.
But a degree of comfort was only seconds away and it arrived, at least partially, from an unexpected quarter.
It’s fair to say that Jerry Karpeh is not a figure who features prominently among the pantheon of Glory greats.
A formidable force with the likes of Dianella, Bayswater and Floreat at State League level, the powerfully-built striker never quite negotiated the step up to the A-League, managing only one start in seven appearances for Glory.
Jerry Karpeh (left)
But having come on as a substitute for Jimmy Downey at the start of the second half, he certainly made his presence felt on this occasion.
Picking up possession in the right-hand channel within the opening 30 seconds, he took two Victory defenders out of the equation with a deft cross which was eventually fired home by the lurking Rukavytsya.
“Jimmy Downey? Jimmy who?!” was the excitable, if rather harsh, reaction of Fox Sports’ summariser Andy Harper to Karpeh’s immediate impact upon the game, yet there was no denying that the third goal was a vital one and the hosts duly held on to their 3-1 advantage to secure three desperately needed points.
A home game against Victory and three points desperately needed?
Let’s hope it’s a little case of history repeating itself on Sunday…
In the meantime, if you have any memories of James Robinson or Jerry Karpeh that you’d like to share, join the conversation on our Facebook page or via Twitter.
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