Report by Kane Sutton

Subiaco secured their third win of the season with a comprehensive 2-0 win over ladder rivals Perth Glory on Saturday afternoon at Rosalie Park.

Ian McMurray was on target in the first half before Michael Lawson doubled the lead in the second.

Subiaco coach Mick Brazil was thrilled with his team’s ability to keep the opponents scoreless.

“We challenged [our players] to back it up after last week – we worked all week on not conceding silly goals and I think I’m right in saying that’s our first clean sheet of the year,” he said.

“We changed the full-backs a couple of weeks ago. We brought in young James Oliver and on the other side Dylan Andrews – both of them are 17-18, so it’s really pleasing.”

Perth Glory coach John Gibson conceded that the victors had prepared themselves more adequately for the weather, which saw heavy rain falling on the pitch for most of the game.

“We knew it was going to be scrappy. It was all about game management for us and unfortunately we didn’t do that,” he said.

“Credit to Subi, they played to the conditions, which is really important. We had a lot of good opportunities that we didn’t take. We hit the post about two or three times and we conceded a couple of really soft goals.

It was a tight contest from the outset, both teams taking advantage of the conditions to produce chances on goal.

A fortuitous slip in the wet saw Subiaco striker McMurray lash his foot out at the ball, which was lobbed over the goalkeeper’s head in the 16th minute.

Glory continued to create chances in the first half but Subiaco’s defence was stronger than they had been all season, stopping some crucial opportunities.

Glory captain Joseph Knowles gave Nic Talimdzioski a great chance shortly after the first Subiaco goal with a crossed ball into the box but his strike hit a post and rolled out of play.

Talimdzioski had another significant chance before the break - a shot from directly in front – but it was blocked by James Oliver.

Glory seemed to pick up their intensity early in the second half with the team’s wingers and strikers regularly breaking away from Subiaco’s defensive line.

One such occasion saw Knowles burn off two defenders to streak down the left wing only to have his shot graze the top of the crossbar.

A minute later, Talimdzioski was given a free kick to take just outside the box but his shot hit the crossbar and went over.

Glory goalkeeper Nicholas Feely was given a yellow card soon after for a handball as he ventured outside his box to defend.

The subsequent free-kick by Nicholas Feely was converted for a goal as the ball deflected into the net from the defending wall.

Despite Glory lifting their intensity in the final minutes and conceding several yellow cards in the process, they were unable to generate a score.

The result sees Subiaco move to within a point of Perth Glory on the ladder, in what has been a difficult season for both teams.

Subiaco 2 (Ian McMurray 16’, Michael Lawson 73’)
Perth Glory 0
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Rosalie Park
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Referee: Stuart Muldoon
Assistant Referees: Walter Ciotti, Callum Haddow

Subiaco: 1. Ryan MONTGOMERY, 2. James OLIVER, (3. Ger FITZGERALD), 4. Jackson DONGRAY, 5. James CASSERLY, 6. Michael LAWSON (73’), 9. Ian MCMURRAY (16’), 10. Rory FEELY, 11. Owen COATES, 12. Jack MAHON, 13. Dylan ANDREWS, 14. Stefan HILL, (15. Zack EDWARDS), (16. Banin HASHEM), 17. Hamish BLANCHARD
Substitutes not used: 8. Ashern ELSON, 21. Hamish ST GEORGE
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil

Perth Glory: 1. Nicholas FEELY, 2. Gian ALBANO, 3. Jack IREDALE, 4. Scott ROBERTSON, 6. Cal WHITNEY, 7. Yacoub MUSTAFA, 8. Dejan SPASESKI, 9. Joseph KNOWLES , 11. Nic TALIMDZIOSKI, (14. Alex TANEVSKI)
Substitutes not used: 12. Ben JOHNS, 13. Walt SCOTT, 15. Sam MCKEARNEN, 20. Riley STEPHENSON
Yellow cards: Nicholas FEELY (72’), Scott ROBERTSON (86’), Jack IREDALE (89’)
Red cards: Nil