Jason Davidson, Diego Castro, Jake Brimmer, Yagoub Mustafa and Chris Harold all found the net as Glory continued their pre-season preparations with a resounding 5-2 win over the WA State Team at a rain and wind-lashed Perth Plasterboard Centre Stadium in Inglewood.
In what was their final hit-out before next week’s FFA Cup clash against Melbourne Victory, Glory’s 3-4-2-1 formation again looked fluent going forward, with Mustafa and Castro’s movement behind lone striker Harold causing plenty of headaches for Jamie Harnwell’s men and both Davidson and Joel Chianese overlapping to great effect from wing-back.
Davidson it was who claimed the opener, before Castro’s acrobatic effort made it 2-0 and a stunning free-kick from Brimmer completed the first-half scoring.
Mustafa then capped a lively display by crashing home Glory’s fourth just short of the hour-mark and moments later, Davidson teed up Harold for number five.
In the latter stages, WA hit back twice to reduce the arrears, Chris Saldaris’ fierce, angled strike from just outside the box followed by Hasani Sinclair’s header on the stroke of full-time.
The State Team also began the game brightly, with ECU Joondalup’s Daryl Nicol twice going close and yet it was Glory who went in front after just seven minutes.
Chianese was the provider, racing away down the right before crossing to the far post where Davidson was on hand to rifle home his first goal for the club from close-range.
Glory’s number seven then claimed another assist six minutes later, again delivering from the right and finding Castro whose scissor-kick just crept over the line despite the best efforts of defender David Stokoe.
To their credit, aided by a strong tailwind, the State Team battled their way back into the contest as the half wore on and went close to halving the arrears through Paul Zimarino who flashed a low shot wide when well placed.
But they were undone again shortly before the break when Brimmer fired home a superb free-kick which crashed off the underside of the bar on its way into the net.
Popovic opted to make five changes at the start of the second half, introducing Daniel Stynes, Scott Neville, Walter Scott, Neil Kilkenny and Zayd Farah into the fray and it was the latter who made an immediate impact, somehow managing to clear off the line after Hasani Sinclair’s shot had beaten Tando Velaphi.
Glory’s response to that let-off was to bag two quickfire goals, Mustafa finding the bottom corner following fine approach work from Stynes and Davidson then surging forward down the left before squaring for Harold who applied an emphatic finish.
After Popovic made a second raft of substitutions with 20 minutes left, Ivan Franjic, Brendon Santalab, Fabio Ferreira, Brandon Wilson, Jackson Lee and Henry Hore all being introduced, the State Team pulled one back through Saldaris who powered an unstoppable, 20-yard strike past Velaphi.
Sinclair’s header secured more in the way of consolation for WA, but moments later, stand-in Glory skipper Scott Neville had his hands on the Gold Fields Challenge Cup.
#OneGlory
Match Details
WA State Team 2 (Saldaris 79′, Sinclair 90+1′) Perth Glory 5 (Davidson 7′, Castro 13′, Brimmer 40′, Mustafa 59′, Harold 63′)
Half-time: 0-3
WA State Team: 1.James MORGAN, 2.Alex ISHIDA-LIVINGS (4.Chris SALDARIS 46′), 3.Johnny CHALMERS (13.Callum O’ÇONNELL 46′), 5.David STOKOE (14.Rocco PIZZATA 46′), 6.Cameron EDWARDS (16.David PERICH 46′), 7.Scott WITSCHGE (12.Jonathan CORNESS 46′), 8.Daryl NICOL (27.Benny KOUAKOU 46′), 9.Alex SALMON (11.Hasani SINCLAIR 46′), 10.Calvin WHITNEY, 15.Tom SOUTHGATE, 28.Paul ZIMARINO
Substitutes not used: 20.Luke RADONICH, 26.Gian ALBANO
Yellow cards: None
Red cards:None
Perth Glory: 1.Tando VELAPHI, 2.Alex GRANT (18.Walter SCOTT 46′), 3.Jason DAVIDSON (5.Ivan FRANJIC 70′), 4.Shane LOWRY (10.Zayd FARAH 46′), 6.Dino DJULBIC (23.Scott NEVILLE 46′), 7.Joel CHIANESE (21.Jacob ITALIANO 70”), 9.Yagoub MUSTAFA (22.Fabio FERREIRA 70′), 14.Chris HAROLD (11.Brendon SANTALAB 70′), 17.Diego CASTRO (25.Daniel STYNES 46′), 20.Jake BRIMMER (15.Brandon WILSON 70′), 27.Juande (88.Neil KILKENNY 46′)
Substitutes not used: 19.Trent OSTLER
Yellow cards: None
Red cards: None
#OneGlory
