Report by Blayne Treadgold

Perth Glory continued their rich run of form in the NPL WA with a 5-0 thrashing of Forrestfield United on Saturday night.

A brace from Joseph Knowles and goals for Jake Brimmer, Daniel Stynes and Walter Scott saw the Glory run rampant in the second half at Wildlife Safari Stadium.

Glory coach John Gibson was pleased with his side’s performance but maintained there were still areas to improve.

“It was quite flattering in the end, I thought we were pretty good, we created a lot of opportunities,” he said.

“They posed us some problems early but we provided some solutions at half-time in terms of trying to get on the ball and simplify things and we controlled the game in the second half.

“I thought we scored some outstanding goals and it was the easier of the chances that we missed.

“We wanted to keep a clean sheet today and we wanted 10 points from our first four rounds. We’ve got a tough run of six games coming up which is going to be a real test for this young group.”

It was Knowles who got Glory off the mark just seven minutes into the match after winger Chok Dau skipped down the right and set him up.

Minutes later United’s Hasani Sinclair was inches from restoring parity as he rattled the crossbar after Perth had failed to clear the ball.

The game opened up early in the second half, with Glory’s Stynes and Rhys Loxley for Forrestfield failing to hit the target.

However, it was Brimmer who again showed his ability to score from a dead-ball situation as he produced a cracking free-kick to double the advantage for Perth.

Callum Timmins could consider himself unlucky not to get on the scoresheet after he unleashed two rockets from long range which crashed back off the bar.

But Glory soon had their third goal following a blunder from United defender Mark Barnett. He gifted the ball to Knowles who turned provider for Stynes to make it 3-0.

A classy, injury-time finish saw Knowles complete his double. He stepped inside his defender on the edge of the area then curled the ball past Forrestfield keeper Ben Parry and into the top left-hand corner.

There was still time for Glory defender Scott to chip in with a goal, followed by a comical celebration, as the visitors completed the rout in the third minute of stoppage time.

The win sees Perth remain second in the table, just two points behind league leaders Bayswater City, and Forrestfield coach Rod Banjac paid credit to them for their ruthless display.

“We lost to a better team,” Banjac said.

“They beat us at our own game. We pride ourselves on playing good football. It just goes to show there’s a fair bit of a difference.

“We need to keep working hard and we’ll be better for it.

“This team that Glory’s got at the moment will open up a lot of eyes - I can see making a big difference in the NPL and anyone who underestimates them will get punished.”

Forrestfield United 0
Perth Glory 5 (Knowles 7 mins, 90+1, Brimmer 63, Stynes 68, Scott 90+3)
Saturday, March 17, 2018
Wildlife Safari Stadium
Kick-off: 7pm
Referee: Stuart Muldoon
Assistant referees: Liviu Katona, Arvin Shanmuganathan

Forrestfield United: 18. Benjamin PARRY (GK), 2. Tom SOUTHGATE, 4. Mark BARNETT, 5. Scott BARKER, 9. Hasani SINCLAIR, 10. Jordan HART (7. Callum ROBERTS 56), 11. Liam MERRIGAN, 12. Callum DOBBS (8. Mitchell CROCKER 65), 16. Thomas JEBB, 17. Jamie DUNCAN, 23. Rhys LOXLEY (14. Benjamin ROGERS 75)
Substitutes not used: 1. Blake HENSHAW, 6. Leslie MARI
Yellow cards: 2. Tom SOUTHGATE, 8. Mitchell CROCKER
Red cards: Nil

Perth Glory: 1. Jackson LEE (GK), 2. Luca BODNAR (15. Daniel WALSH 90+1), 3. Walter SCOTT, 4. Riley WARLAND, 5. Ollie ANNIS, 6. Callum TIMMINS (12. Jack LEECH 80) 7. Chok DAU, 8. Brandon WILSON, 9. Joseph KNOWLES, 10. Jake BRIMMER, 11. Daniel STYNES (14. Michael DOMFEH 77)
Substitutes not used: 13. Bayley BROWN-MONTGOMERY, 20. Nicolas SPECA
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil