Report by Blayne Treadgold

Perth Glory went top of the NPL WA in dramatic circumstances on Saturday – only to earn a dressing-down from coach John Gibson.

Walter Scott’s winner with the last kick of the match rounded off a thrilling fightback from 2-0 down as Glory beat Stirling Lions 3-2 in a fiery clash at Macedonia Park.

But the result wasn’t enough to placate Gibson, who criticised his players’ approach.

“I thought we were disrespectful today, we showed a poor attitude in certain areas,” Gibson said.

“We could have capitalied really early, but fair play to Stirling … they hung in there all day.”

A see-sawing opening half saw chances at both ends, including a Jake Brimmer penalty for Glory which hit the upright and stayed out.

Just minutes into the second half it was Stirling who took the lead as Steve Sokol got on the end of a superb Dean Cummings cross to glance the ball into the far corner of Jackson Lee’s net.

The game heated up and referee Josh Manella got plenty of use out of his notebook following a push-and-shove incident in front of the parochial home supporters.

As tensions began to simmer, Stirling doubled their lead as Liam Henderson rose above the pack to loop a header over Lee.

But that sparked Glory into life and two minutes later Joe Knowles scraped one back when he pounced on a loose ball to beat Stirling keeper Pasquale Gioffre.

And it wasn’t long before Glory were level when Yacoub Mustafa squared it up at 2-2 after he beat two defenders then fired past Gioffre from close range.

Glory began to push late in the match, with chances falling to Knowles, Mustafa and Henry, but none was able to find a winner.

A goalmouth scramble saw Stirling clear a ball from the line before Mannella spotted an infringement and he awarded a Stirling free-kick.

But with the game ticking over into injury time, Perth chased the winner. And it arrived right at the death when Scott pounced on a knockdown by Knowles and he shot beyond Gioffre to snatch the points and put his side top of the ladder on goal difference.

Despite the loss Stirling coach Keegan Ashley insisted confidence remained high as they looked ahead to their midweek FFA Cup clash with Subiaco.

“I thought it was a pretty even game. Going 2-0 up, we were in control,” Ashley said.

“They brought on a bit of pace and did a bit of damage, but overall I thought it was a pretty even game.

“It’s a tight competition, there’s not much difference between third bottom and fifth or sixth spot."

Stirling Lions 2 (Sokol 47min, Henderson 57)
Perth Glory 3 (Knowles 59, Mustafa 61, Scott 90+4)
Saturday, April 21
Macedonia Park
Kick-off: 3pm
Referee: Josh Mannella
Assistant referees: Amit Hosany, Vraj Patel

Stirling Lions: 1. Pasquale GIOFFRE (GK) 4. Alex SULESKI, 5. Liam HENDERSON, 6. Dhhors CHOL
(19. Zane CASELLA 90+2) 7. Dean CUMMINGS (C), 8. Dejan SPASESKI, 9. Robert PETKOV (16. Moses KALAU 81) 11. Alex TANEVSKI 13. David FILIPPOU (12. Matthew CHERRIE 66) 14. Steve SOKOL,
15. Nathan DE ABREU
Substitutes not used: 17. Robbie McNEILL, 20. Lance ALAVAKIS
Yellow cards: Chol, De Abreu, Henderson, Spaseski
Red cards: Nil

Perth Glory: 1. Jackson LEE (GK), 2. Luca BODNAR, 3. Walter SCOTT, 4. Sam RIAK (C), 5. Ollie ANNIS,
6. Callum TIMMINS, 7.Jacob ITALIANO (13. Yaccoub MUSTAFA 58) 8. Brandon WILSON (14. Henry HORE 52) 9. Joseph KNOWLES, 10. Jake BRIMMER, 11. Daniel STYNES (12. Chok DAU 72)
Substitutes not used: 15. Harry QUIGLEY, 20. Nicholas SPECA
Yellow cards: 2. Bodnar, Annis
Red cards: Nil