Report by Blayne Treadgold

Photo by Fotoenzo

Perth Glory bounced back into the winner's circle with a 5-1 thrashing of Floreat Athena on Saturday night at E&D Litis Stadium.

Two spectacular strikes from Jake Brimmer topped off an impressive second-half performance for Glory with Daniel Stynes and Joe Knowles also among the goals.

Yet it was the home side who went ahead in this Round Six clash thanks to a persistent run by Phillip Arnold after Glory had failed to clear their lines. 

Arnold managed to slip his defender and calmly slotted the ball past Glory goalkeeper Jackson Lee.

Glory got on terms just before half-time when Jacob Italiano played a lovely through ball to send Stynes in on goal and he beat Floreat keeper Jason Saldaris.

Encouraged by the equaliser, Glory started the brighter after the break and they went ahead in the 56th minute when Floreat’s Jamie Street bundled Brimmer's free-kick into his own net.

Two quick-fire goals from Brimmer then put Glory out of sight.

First he hit a spectacular, long-range effort which floated over Saldaris' head as the Floreat keeper tried to scramble back to his line.

Brimmer followed that up with a stunning free-kick which found the top right corner.

Despite a frustrating night in front of goal, Knowles completed the 5-1 rout in the 90th minute.

Perth coach John Gibson was pleased with the performance despite his team again going behind early.
 
“We started off very shaky ... It seems to be theme of going behind early in the last few games.

“We adjusted a few things at half-time, provided some solutions, and our second half was pretty good. Then there were those two strikes from young Jake Brimmer.

“We’ve got some really good depth at the moment and it’s great that we can provide some opportunities for some of these young guys on the fringe of the first team."

Glory now look ahead to next week’s top of the table clash with reigning NPL WA premiers Bayswater City.

Floreat Athena 1 (Arnold 7min)
Perth Glory 5 (Stynes 44min, Street og 56, Brimmer (2), Knowles 90)
Saturday, March 31, 2018
E&D Litis Stadium
Kick-off: 5pm
Referee: Michael Jasinski
Assistant referees: Alex Best, John Taran

Floreat Athena: 1. Jason SALDARIS (GK), 4. Andrew SCALDAFERRO, 5. Jamie STREET, 6. Jesse FULLER, 8. Jonathan STYNES 10. Calvin WHITNEY, 11. Dennis GALAN (21. Keylun POLLARD 79), 13. Hamza HINA, 15. Chris SALDARIS, 17. Dean EVANS (C), 18. Phillip ARNOLD
Substitutes not used: 3. Juma AWAKA, 12. Ryan MALTON, 16. Liam Hudson, 23. Jordan BARBAS
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil

Perth Glory: GK Jackson LEE, 2. Luca BODNAR, 3. Walter SCOTT, 4. Riley WARLAND, 5. Sam RIAK
6. Callum TIMMINS (14. Henry Hore 62), 7. Jacob ITALIANO (13. Chok DAU 82), 8. Brandon WILSON, 9. Joe KNOWLES, 10. Jake BRIMMER, 11. Daniel STYNES (12 Yacoub MUSTAFA 66)
Substitutes not used: 15. Daniel WALSH 21. Nicolas SPECA,
Yellow cards: 6. Callum TIMMINS, 3. Walter SCOTT
Red cards: Nil