Glory sunk by Spencer stunner

After all the razzmatazz and fanfare the Perth Glory turned in a fizzer, and they didn’t get off to the start they would have hoped for in their opening match of the Hyundai A-League when they were beaten by Central Coast Mariners 1-0 at Members Equity Stadium on Friday night.

In front of 11,113 supporters gun Glory signing Brian Dean made his club debut, only a week after arriving from the UK, and started up front alongside Bobby Despotovski and surprise choice Henry Fa’arodo in an attacking 4-3-3 formation, with the Mariners missing star striker Nick Mrdja.

It was a quiet opening with the Glory guilty of using the long ball tactic to Dean too often, and not having other avenues of attack. The Mariners looked a very compact unit and looked dangerous on the counter attack with Andre Gumprecht pulling the strings in midfield and the lively Tom Pondeljak and Stewart Petrie causing the Glory defence problems.

The Glory needed to lift and youngster Billy Celeski was involved in a number of their moves. He crossed in the 12th minute to the unmarked Fa’arodo who fired wide, the cross shot missed everyone and it only needed a touch to score.

The Glory should have scored in the 18th minute when Celeski was brought down for a free kick mid way in to the Mariners half. The quick thinking Simon Colosimo fired in his free kick early to the unmarked Dean who headed back into the path of Despotovski at the far post, but some how Despotovski missed from close range with the goal open.

The Mariners dominated the rest of the half and Pondeljak was in the thick of the action and was guilty of missing three chances, the best after a corner from Damien Brown found the former Glory star, his shot was only inches over the bar. Then Matthew Osman was played by Pondeljak and was one on one with Jason Petkovic, who was out quick to block his shot and the ball deflected agonisingly past the post.

The Mariners thought they had the lead late in the first half, when Petkovic was lucky to get away with a blunder at his near post when he punched the ball into his own net. However referee Ben Williams ruled Petkovic was impeded and the goal was disallowed. The Glory made a change at the break with Adrian Caceres replacing Fa’arodo and they reshufflled the side.

The second half was a more even affair with the lively Caceres causing problems down the left and Colosimo began to lift in midfield, but they couldn’t break down the Mariners defence, and the crowd was getting restless. Dean seemed to tire as the game went on but he showed he will be a great asset to the Glory.

The Mariners looked more determined and battled in numbers closing down the Glory’s space on every occasion. The game looked destined for a 0-0 draw, and it looked like it would need something special to change things. Enter Noel Spencer, he cut inside on the 66th minute and from 20 meters hit a stunning long-range strike which flew past Petkovic into the top right hand corner of the net.

It was what the visitors deserved but the Glory still had time to salvage something from the match if they were good enough, and the second half substitute Hiroyuki Ishida began to cause trouble down the right. In the 74th minute great work from Caceres played in Despotovski, his pull back found the unmarked Ishida who looped his shot well over the bar from close range.

Glory went close again moments later but Jamie Harnwell’s follow-up effort from a rebounded Deane header was deflected over the bar. A disappointing result for the Glory, but on tonight’s performance the Mariners look very impressive, but its only early days and there’s a long season ahead.

Glory coach Steve McMahon has a lot of work to do with the team and he was disappointed after, “"We didn’t perform as a team ... I was very disappointed," he said.

"I was disappointed with the way we started. If you start in second gear, it’s difficult to get out of it. I was worried about our team performance and we can play a lot better." But he had some positive words for Deane.

"I was pleased with Brian. It was very difficult for him – coming off the plane a week ago he battled on and so all credit to him. Now we can say there’s always next week."

Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna was obviously delighted at the post match press conference,

"We were always confident after winning last week (final of Pre-Season Cup against Perth), and I thought we deserved to win tonight," McKinna said, realising the countless near-chances his team created before Spencer netting his peach of a strike.

"To come here and get three points is fantastic."

"It was a great, overall, team performance, everybody did their part tonight," McKinna enthused.

"It could have been two or three nil and needless to say we're pleased to be coming home with three points."

Team Line-Ups

Perth:
Jason Petkovic (gk); Simon Colosimo (Nick Ward 80'), Jamie Harnwell, Steve McMahon Jnr, Scott Miller (Hiroyuki Ishida 63'), Bobby Despotovski, Ante Kovacevic, Jamie Coyne, Billy Celeski, Brain Deane, Henry Fa'arodo (Adrian Caceres 46'). Cautions: Kovacevic (37'), Celeski (74'). Expulsions: Nil.

Central Coast:
John Crawley (gk); Noel Spencer, Michael Beauchamp, Andrew Gumprecht, Dean Heffernan, Tom Pondeljak, Damien Brown (John Hutchinson 90'), Stewart Petrie, Andrew Clark, Matthew Osman, Alex Wilkinson. Cautions: Wilkinson (20'), Gumprecht (57'). Expulsions: Nil.

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