Report by Blayne Treadgold

Photo by FotoEnzo

Perth Glory produced a trademark second-half rally to edge past Perth SC in their crucial Round 14 clash at Dorrien Gardens on Saturday.

A thumping strike from Daniel Stynes and a regulation tap-in for Yacoub Mustafa were enough to see Glory run out 2-0 winners.

Coach Jon Gibson was pleased with his side’s performance in a game which was switchd from Ashfield Arena.

“It was a fairly dominant performance, they came in with an organised manner in which they wanted to disturb us and they did that for long periods,” Gibson said.

“We adjusted things where we just didn’t have the quality in the middle to front third early but once we altered that a bit, things started to change.

“We changed a few things and provided a few solutions and in the second half I thought we were really good."

The opening half saw both sides struggle to break down the opposition. Azzurri defender Alex Silla was kept busy, as was Glory defender Riley Warland with both sides made to work extra hard in the blustery conditions.

After the break Perth SC's Frank Furfaro tried his luck from distance but blazed it wide.

Glory thought they had the opener through Jake Brimmer on 65 minutes after some great lead-up play involving Joe Knowles and Henry Hore, only for the linesman to spot a player offside.

However, within minutes Stynes did in fact find a breakthroughwhen he pounced on a half-volley from outside the box and thumped the ball into the top left corner.

Just minutes later, second-half substitute Mustafa doubled the advantage for Glory as he tapped in from close range. The initial shot from Knowles was too hot to handle for Azzurri keeper Francis Soale, who spilled the ball to the feet of Mustafa.

The win sees the Glory remain in third position, just four points behind league leaders Bayswater City.

The loss saw the Azzurri slip to sixth spot but coach Ramon Falzon remains optimistic about picking up points in the second half of the season and keeping the pressure on the top four.
 
“There’s a gap now but there’s still 12 games to go and 36 points to play for,” Falzon said.

Perth Glory 2 (Stynes 76min, Mustafa 80)
Perth SC 0
Saturday, May 26
Dorrien Gardens (Perth Glory home game)
Kick-off: 3pm
Referee: Josh Manella
Assistant referees: Albert Muyembe, Ammar Timour

Perth Glory: 1. Jackson LEE, 2. Luca BODNAR 3. Walter SCOTT, 4. Riley WARLAND, 5. Ollie ANNIS 6. Callum TIMMINS (14. Yacoub MUSTAFA 63) 7. Jacob ITALIANO (13. Henry HORE 63) 8. Brandon WILSON, 9. Joseph KNOWLES, 10. Jake Brimmer (12. Chok DAU 78) 11. Daniel STYNES
Substitutes not used: 15. Sam RIAK 20. Nicolas SPECA
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil

Perth SC: 1 Francis SOALE, 2. Alex SILLA, 6. Harley ORR, 10. Nicholas AMBROGIO (20, Paul ZIMARINO 79) 11. Matthew MILENKOVIC, 12.Jordan DE LEO, 14.Kristan SANTICH (9. Gustavo CATARCIONE 83), 16. Kieran COLWELL, 17. Frank FURFARO, 18. Richard HOWLES, 21. George FESTA
Substitutes not used:  7. Aleksandar JOVIC, 19. Ali NAZARY, 23.Malek KUC
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil