A confidence boosting win against Wellington is just the start of better things to come for a Perth Glory side that has endured a fair share of bad luck this season said star utility player Jamie Harnwell.
A confidence boosting win against Wellington is just the start of better things to come for a Perth Glory side that has endured a fair share of bad luck this season said star utility player Jamie Harnwell.
Harnwell played his first full game of the new campaign and was an important ingredient in the heart of Glory-s defence as they kept a potent Phoenix attack at bay to record a clean sheet for the first time since round seven last season.
Eugene Dadi-s penalty in the 78th minute secured the victory and moved Glory to just two points from a top four spot.
“We knew we were good enough to do it but to have the monkey off the back is nice,” said Harnwell.
“We also know that there is still a lot of room for improvement so we-ll keep working hard.
“It was a committed performance and now we just have to make sure we-re right for Central Coast on Friday because it is a pretty short turn around for us,” Harnwell added.
The Glory will saddle up to tackle last season-s Premiers on their home turf just five days after playing the Phoenix however Harnwell said everyone was looking forward to getting out on the pitch in a bid to secure back-to-back wins.
“It probably wasn-t the best performance from a footballing point of view but we got the three points, we knew we had to be committed to get the win and that is what we did,” said Harnwell.
“We can obviously play a lot better but if we get wins like that every week I wouldn-t care.”
After an interrupted start to the 2008/09 season Harnwell is keen to make up for lost time and doesn-t mind if it-s attack or defence where his talents are deployed.
“I-m just happy to be back playing,” said Harnwell.
“It has been a pretty tough pre-season for with some niggling injuries so whether it-s at the back or I get thrown forward at some stage it doesn-t bother me at all,” he said.
While the Glory has copped some criticism of their early season performances Harnwell said the playing group always maintained a belief that the hard at training would translate into a positive returns on game day.
“We knew inside the camp that we-re a good side and can beat teams. We had to come out and show it and we did,” he said.
The club-s next challenge comes in the form of a Mariners side that are looking for their first win at home this season and will be fired up to secure all three points after conceding in the dying seconds last weekend and having to settle for a draw.
“The Mariners are a good side. They work hard for each other, keep the ball well and have some quality strikers who score good goals.
“We-ll be looking to keep the ball a lot more ourselves and create some chances of our own,” Harnwell said.
