The opening goal by Lawrence Shuruma wasn’t enough to steal a win for the Perth Glory NPL side, who ended the match in a 1-1 draw with Perth Soccer Club, at Intiga Stadium, Saturday afternoon.
The opening goal by Lawrence Shuruma wasn-t enough to steal a win for the Perth Glory NPL side, who ended the match in a 1-1 draw with Perth Soccer Club at Intiga Stadium yesterday afternoon.
It was Shuruma-s first match for Glory and to score the first goal for the team in the new National Premier Leagues WA competition was a dream come true for the young player.
“It-s something exciting for me, it-s a part of the history books, and it-s my first game for Glory so it feels quite good,” Shuruma said.
Despite the early goal, Friday Zico equalised for Perth Soccer Club just before half time to bring the team to an equal footing and that is how the final score remained.
Glory coach Scott Miller said Perth S.C were a tough nut to crack but he was very pleased with the way his team played.
“The boys really stepped up in their first game against the big boys today and we were rapt with the way we knocked the ball around.”
But Miller said that scoring goals were definitely the area of play they needed to improve on the most.
“Today we had enough possession to create more goal chances, but they are new boys getting used to each other so we-ll work on that.”
Glory opened the match well with a cross from Harry O-Brien to the Hyundai A-League contracted player, Riley Woodcock, three minutes into the match, whose shot sailed close over the crossbar.
They were the first to enter the scoreboard in the 20th minute after a closely fought opening period, which saw both teams battle for possession in the middle third.
Glory left-back Hanafi Ghazli found Shuruma in a pocket of space in the penalty area after an unchallenged run down the wing, and despite Perth keeper Alex Dunn-s efforts to close down the shot, Shuruma found the back of the net.
But Perth rose to the challenge after falling behind and continued the pressure in their opponent-s half.
An appeal by Glory-s Woodcock for a penalty in the 42nd minute was dismissed by the referee before Perth equalised with a goal in the 45th minute.
An impressive left foot half-volley by Zico in the penalty area brought the game to 1-1 on the stroke of half time.
The play was created from an interception on the half-way line by James Marocchi, one of Perth coach Taki Nicolaidis- standout players of the match.
But for the most part, failed crosses and shots seemed to be the order of the day.
It was a fairly eventless second half with neither team dominating play nor creating any clear-cut chances.
Both sides squandered numerous free kicks and corners, and possession was given away cheaply in the final thirds.
Just before the final whistle Perth showed flashes of dominance but failed to convert any opportunities.
Nicolaidis was disappointed his team didn-t come away with a win.
“That was our intention and it-s always good to start the season with a win,” he said.
“We had a couple a half-chances there at the end where we should have done better and that-s the difference between winning and losing sometimes.”
An improvement on finishing in the final third will be a focus point in preparation for next week-s match against Nicolaidis- old side Floreat Athena.
“If you don-t score goals, you don-t win games.”
Perth Glory 1 (Lawrence SHURUMA 20-)
Perth Soccer Club 1 (Friday ZICO 45-)
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Intiga Stadium, Inglewood
Kick-off: 3pm
Referee: Matthew Southern
Assistant referees: Tim Mihevc, Zach Piccicacco
Crowd: 350 (estimated).
Perth Glory: 1. Fraser GREENWOOD (gk), 2. Hanafi GHAZLI, 3. Scott ROBERTSON, 4. Jack OLDHAM, 5. Rocco PIZZATA, 6.Blamo QUAQUA (c), 7. Riley WOODCOCK, 8. Cameron EDWARDS, 9. Joseph KNOWLES, 10. Lawrence SHURUMA, 17. Harry O-BRIEN,
Substitutes used: (16. GIAN ALBANO 79′), (18. Josh TUCKER)
Substitutes not used: 11. Slobodan VULIN, 19. Sean TROUP, 20. Ryan Baker
Yellow cards: Josh TUCKER 90+1-
Red cards: Nil
Perth Soccer Club: 2. Josh WILKINS, 3. Luka NJEGICH, 4. Craig SIMPSON, 8. Aden DA LUZ, 9. Friday ZICO, 10. Ashley ROSINDALE, 11. Robert SCIASCIA, 14. Mark PRITCHARD, 19. Andreas THEODOSIADES, 20. James MAROCCHI, 23. Alex DUNN
Substitutes used: (12. Tim ROBERTSON 61-), (15. Mark DONINGER 56-)
Substitutes not used: 1. Domenico SAVOLDELLI (gk), 21. Jarrod BELFORD, 16. Nicholas ABROGIO.
Yellow cards: Mark PRITCHARD 26-
Red cards: Nil
