Report by Blayne Treadgold

Perth Glory continued their unbeaten start to the 2018 NPL WA season after a second-half romp gave them a 4-1 win over Joondalup United at Ashfield Reserve on Sunday evening.

A brace from Joseph Knowles and goals for Daniel Stynes and Jake Brimmer saw John Gibson’s side overcome a half-time deficit to storm home.

Gibson was pleased with his side’s response and praised their second-half performance.

“We showed great resilience to come back in the second half, in previous years we’ve really struggled against Joondalup,” he said.

“It’s a tough league. It’s men’s football, we’ve got to be able to compete physically and use our quality when we do get on the ball. It’s a great league for us to learn in.”

Yet it had been Joondalup who had the early momentum and they got their reward in the 16th minute when Matthew Sparrow opened the scoring. Sparrow went on a persistent run forward to gather his own pass and then slid the ball past Glory keeper Jackson Lee to see United lead at the break.

It would be all Perth Glory in the second half, however, with Yacoub Mustafa and Brimmer excelling in midfield.

Stynes opened the floodgates for Perth early in the second half after Knowles’ pinpoint cross found him unmarked in the box for a simple header past United keeper James Bosdet.

Two goals in quick succession then followed as Glory turned the match on its head. Stynes turned provider for Knowles, who hit the back of the net, then minutes later Brimmer stunned the crowd with a superb free-kick to make it 3-1 to the home side.

Knowles got his second in the 68th minute to seal the win for Perth when he followed up the rebound from Bosdet to complete his double.

Referee Shane Skinner dished out a total of eight cards and Glory finished with 10 men after Henry Hore was shown a red card for a second bookable offence.

The match was a case of deja vu for a bitterly disappointed Joondalup United boss Nick Jennings, whose side were overrun after half-time for the second week in a row.

“It was a game of two halves today. We dominated the first half; second half we concede an early goal and lose our discipline, our shape, exactly the same as last week,” he said.

“Whether it’s fitness, mental attitudes, character ... it’s easy when you’re ahead but when you’re behind you must show character - I would question the character of some of our players.”

Perth Glory 4 (Stynes 48 min, Knowles 54, 68, Brimmer 56) 
Joondalup United 1 (Sparrow 16)
Sunday 11th March, 2018
Ashfield Arena
Kick-off: 5pm
Referee: Shane Skinner
Assistant referees: Josh Mannella, Ammar Timour

Perth Glory: 1. Jackson LEE (GK), 2. Luca BODNAR, 3. Walter SCOTT, 4. Riley WARLAND, 5. Ollie ANNIS,
6. Callum TIMMINS (12. Jack LEECH 80), 7. Chok DAU 8. Jake BRIMMER, 9. Joseph KNOWLES, 10. Daniel STYNES (13. Henry HORE 69), 11. Yacoub MUSTAFA (14. Michael DOMFEH 80)
Substitutes not used: 15. Sam RIAK, 16. Nicolas SPECA
Yellow cards: 3. Walter SCOTT, 9. Joseph KNOWLES, 13. Henry HORE, 8. Jake BRIMMER
Red cards: 13. HENRY HORE

Joondalup United: 1. James BOSDET (GK), 2. John CHALMERS, 3. Fraser GARNAUT (17. Luke SERRA 51), 5. Joel LEDSHAM, 6. Sam WYNNE, 7. Matthew SPARROW (C), 8. Jay MARSDEN, 9. Alex WILD,
10. Elliot TATTERSALL, 15. Callum STOCKS (11. Anthony TAYLOR 45), 16. Ross EDWARDS (22. Parviz SHIZARDI 76)
Substitutes not used: 4. Danny O’SHEA, 21. Luke Green,
Yellow cards: 8. Jay MARSDEN, 10. Elliot TATTERSALL, 6. Sam WYNNE
Red cards: Nil