Goals from Travis Dodd, Chris Harold and triallist Tyson Holmes secured a comfortable and well-deserved victory for Glory over Platinum Stars in the second game of their South African tour.
Goals from Travis Dodd, Chris Harold and triallist Tyson Holmes secured a comfortable and well-deserved victory for Glory over Platinum Stars in the second game of their South African tour.
The ABSA Premiership side looked bright in the opening exchanges, but as the first-half wore on, Glory gradually seized control and once Dodd opened the scoring on 37 minutes, they were rarely troubled.
Even the introduction of nine second-half substitutes did not throw Ian Ferguson-s side out of their stride and indeed it was one of those replacements, Tyson Holmes who grabbed the third goal in the final minutes after Chris Harold had added to Dodd-s opener just before the hour mark.
The fact that Glory looked sharper and outlasted a Platinum Stars side only two weeks out from the start of their league season was a major plus that left Ferguson especially satisfied.
“Obviously I-m pleased with the result and with the way our fitness levels are improving”, he said.
“It-s important that we keep improving and I feel that we are definitely doing that.
“I was happy with some things, but there are also things that we still need to brush up on, like some of our decision-making for example.
“I was pleased with the way we played out from the back and with our rotations both in midfield and in attack and delighted with the goals from Dodd and Harold in particular.
“All of the young lads we have on this trip have done well and I thought they were excellent again tonight.
“Storm Roux had a great game at right-back, Brandon O-Neill came on at halftime and did really well, Chris Harold is looking better every time I see him and Adrian Zahra came on and did some nice things as well.
“Tonight was a great experience for all of them.
“We-ll now watch the video back, have a look at the things we did well and what we can improve upon, do our recovery tomorrow, have a day off on Sunday and then get right back into it on Monday.”
Another of the many positives to come out of the clash at Mbombela Stadium was the return to action of Steven McGarry and Billy Mehmet and the latter was thrilled to be back in the fray.
“I-ve had a disc bulge at the top of my back which caused a problem with the nerve in my neck and had to have three injections to settle it down.
“I-ve been a bit apprehensive about heading the ball, but I came through tonight ok and obviously it was great to get a 3-0 win.
“If I hadn-t shaved my head before the game, the header I had in the second-half might have gone in, but I was just really pleased to get back out there and get 60 minutes under my belt.”
At the other end of the field, meanwhile, Storm Roux produced an eye-catching display on his starting debut for the club and admitted that his nerves had been jangling in the build-up to the game.
“I was pretty nervous before the game, but once I got a few passes and got into it, I was ok after that.
“As I-ve been training with the first team, I knew what to expect in terms of the pace and physicality of the game and all the boys were talking to me and helping me out which made it a lot easier.
“It was nice to play a part in the goal as well. I was happy with the touch I took and then saw Doddsy making the run and managed to get the ball to him, he whipped it across goal and Chris Harold came in at the back post and tucked it away.
“I ended up being switched to left-back but that wasn-t a problem as I-ve played a few seasons swapping into different positions, so that was nothing new to me.
“I was happy with my game, Fergie said well played to me at the end of the and we won, so it was a good night all round.”
Pressing higher up the field than they did against Amazulu on Tuesday and showing a greater level of intensity right from the off, Glory managed to dominate for long periods in terms of both possession and territory and really took the game away from the South Africans at the start of the second-half.
The build-up to the Harold goal on 58 minutes was nothing short of delightful, as was the finish supplied by the former Gold Coast man at pace from a difficult angle.
Ndumba Makeche, meanwhile, also turned on the style to beat his marker and deliver the pinpoint cross that Tyson Holmes headed powerfully home from close range to make it 3-0 in the shadows of full-time.
Glory will return to Mbombela Stadium on Tuesday morning (local time) to complete their tour by taking on a Bidvest Wits side whom many pundits are tipping to make a big impression in the upcoming ABSA Premiership season
Platinum Stars: 0
Perth Glory: 3 (Dodd 37-, Harold 58-, Holmes 87-)
Mbombela Stadium
Perth Glory: 1. Danny Vukovic (20. Devon Spence 80-), 2. Storm Roux, 3. Bas van den Brink, 23. Michael Thwaite (5. Steve Pantelidis 75-), 9. Dean Heffernan (19. Josh Risdon 70-), 7. Jacob Burns (Nick Ward 83- – back on), 6. Nick Ward (15. Brandon O-Neill 46-), 14) Steven McGarry (18. Jesse Makarounas 62-), 17) Chris Harold (12. Tyson Holmes 75-), 13) Travis Dodd (11. Adrian Zahra 70-), 4) Billy Mehmet (22. Ndumba Makeche 63-)
Perth Glory-s 2012 pre-season tour of South Africa is proudly sponsored by Kaboko Mining, Okap Ventures, Europcar and managed by prominent South African firm SportUnplugged.
