Report by Paul J. Laverty

Photo courtesy Fiona Iredale

Perth Glory laid to rest any lingering fears of finishing at the foot of the table following a convincing display at Grindleford Reserve, with star-man Kosta Petratos striking a double to down Balcatta.

Perth Glory youth coach John Gibson was delighted with the way his side controlled the tempo of the game.

“The boys have taken on the instructions and were just magnificent today,” he said.

Balcatta had the chance to draw first blood in the opening minutes when captain Eamon McNelis blasted over from 12m.

And they were left to rue that opportunity as it was all Glory from then on with the home side having their goalkeeper Clint Davies to thank for keeping the scoreline respectable.

Davies blocked an effort with his legs from the industrious Daniel Stynes in the 19th minute, and his lower-half came to the rescue again moments later when he got a foot to a Stynes shot when the Glory winger was clean through.

But Davies was helpless in the 28th minute when Nic Talimdzioski was tripped in the box and Petratos sent the keeper the wrong way to open the scoring.

This was a polished performance from the young glory side, with Balcatta having little in reply to the vistors’ pace and ingenuity.

Glory continued where they left off after the break when Petratos was awarded another early penalty when caught by Davies in the box, however, the keeper made amends with a super spot-kick stop, this time with his knee.

But Glory were not to be halted and they turned up the pressure with Davies producing a point-blank save from Talimdzioski, and then followed it up with another string of great saves from close-range, first from Stynes and then again from Talimdzioski.

Glory sealed the win in injury time when Petratos unleashed a 25m thunderbolt which left Davies with no chance.

Balcatta’s Marc Anthony had no excuses about why his side didn’t grab a share of the points.

“It was probably the worst we’ve played this year but I’ll put it down to how good they were,” he said. “I make no secret that we don’t like playing them.”

Balcatta 0
Perth Glory 2 (Petratos 28min, 90)
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Grindleford Reserve
Kick off: 3pm
Referee: Josh Mannella
Assistant referees: Troy Malatesta, Oliver Allen

Balcatta: 2. Hanafi GHAZALI, 4. Alexsander SULESKI, 5. Conor KAVANAGH, 6. Jonathan CORNESS, 10. Zelfy NAZARY, 11. Feisal ZAW (3. Keiran STALLARD 84), 12. Eamon MCNELIS (c) (7. James SAMMUT 64), 17. Keiran COLWELL, 19. Alan CARROLL, 22. Scott NEWLAND (14. James GORDON 64), 40. Clint DAVIES (gk),
Substitutes not used: 15. Kyle JACKSON, 41. Kyle MCDONALD (gk)
Yellow cards: nil
Red cards: nil

Perth Glory: 1. Riley STEPHENSON (gk), 2. Aryn WILLIAMS, 3. Jack IREDALE, 4. Jackson MORGAN, 5. Ross MILLARD, 6. Cal WHITNEY (c), 7. Daniel STYNES (13. Dejan SPASEKI 90+1), 8. Brandon WILSON (12. Mitch OXBORROW 59), 9. Kosta PETRATOS, 10. Jamal REINERS (16. Sam MCKEARNEN 70), 11. Nic TALIMDZIOSKI  
Substitutes not used: 15. Luca BODNAR, 20. Stef KING (GK)
Yellow cards: Wilson 38'
Red cards: nil