Glory finish the season on a high
Report by Matthew Corvi
Perth Glory have finished the PS4 NPLWA season on a high note, beating Cockburn City 2-0 in a tough encounter at Ashfield Reserve on Saturday afternoon.
The home team secured all three points with a strong second half performance, with goals from Brandon Wilson and Yacoub Mustafa ensuring Glory ended the season with a victory.
Perth Glory coach John Gibson was pleased with his side's performance.
“It was a good performance and it's great to end the season on a positive note,” he said.
“We’ve had a tough season with a very young squad, so we’re happy with how things have gone.”
Glory controlled the game from the out, with Joseph Knowles having multiple chances to put his side ahead early, but some resilient defending from Cockburn kept the scores level.
Despite dominating the early periods of the game, Glory nearly fell behind to Cockburn in the 23rd minute.
After losing his defender, Gian Albano managed to blaze the ball over the bar from close range, missing a valuable opportunity for his side to take the lead.
Glory finally managed to take the lead in the 61st minute, with Wilson scoring one of the goals of the season.
After finding space 30 yards out, the young midfielder managed to find the back of the net with a fantastic long range shot, leaving Luke Radonich no chance.
Just over ten minutes later, Glory put the result behind doubt.
Daniel Stynes managed to get space in the box and around Radonich, who unceremoniously took down the midfielder after being beaten to the ball.
Before the referee could award a penalty, Mustafa cleaned up, smashing the ball into the back of the net from close range for Glory’s second goal.
The result ensured Glory finished 12th on the ladder, two places off the bottom, whilst Cockburn City finished 9th for the second consecutive season.
Cockburn City coach Scott Miller was pleased with his side's performance despite the result.
“Our performance was decent, we did well in patches but Glory were the better team on the day,” he said.
“It was nice to finish the season without having to worry about relegation. Last year was much more tense."
Perth Glory 2 (Wilson 61min, Mustafa 73)
Cockburn City 0
Saturday, August 26, 2017
Ashfield Reserve
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Referee: Michal Jasinski
Assistant Referees: Martin Hicks, Joseph Belfiore
Perth Glory: 1. Nick FEELY(GK), 2. Luca BODNAR, 3. Hayden STEVENS, 4. Cameron MURRAY, 5. Ollie ANNIS, 6. Callum TIMMINS, 7. Yacoub MUSTAFA (14.Bayley BROWN-MONTGOMERY 82), 8. Brandon WILSON (13.Jack LEECH 90), 9. Joseph KNOWLES (12. Michael DOMFEH 88), 10. Daniel STYNES, 11. Michael MCDOUGALL
Substitutes not used: 20. Kyle MCDONALD (RGK), 15. Harry QUIGLEY
Yellow cards: Timmins 79
Red cards: nil
Cockburn City: 1. Luke RADONICH (GK), 6. Reuben TRISTAO, 7. Calvin WHITNEY, 8. Cameron EDWARDS, 9. Gian ALBANO (3. Daniel DOLS 46), 11. Harry O’BRIEN (c), 12. Daniel SANTICH, 14. Julian TELES, 16. Riley VAN DIEKEN (18. Aden DA LUZ 82), 17. Jesse LAZZARO, 21. Joshua KUSER
Substitutes not used: 23. Ryan BARKER (RGK), 10. David ARAYA
Yellow cards: Whitney 66, Santich 77, Lazzaro 77
Red cards: nil
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