Perth Glory continued its winning pre-season form, with a hard fought 1-0 win over the WA State Team and Intiga Stadium
Perth Glory continued its winning pre-season form, with a hard fought 1-0 win over the WA State Team and Intiga Stadium.
In the Glory-s last home fixture before it departs to Melbourne for fixtures against the Victory and the Heart, Travis Dodd was the lone goal scorer for the A-League club, netting his fourth goal of pre-season.
“I thought tonight-s game was a good test, the WA State team did really well,” Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson said.
“We created quite few chances but unfortunately we didn-t hit the back of the net as much as I would have liked.
Having opened the scoring in the 9th minute in its previous encounter with the State Team, Perth Glory again wasted little time in opening its account, with Dodd neatly volleying a Scott Jamieson cross past Custis Aspden in the 2nd minute.
Adrian Zahra was then presented with a glorious opportunity to score his third goal of pre-season in the 19th minute, as he latched onto a Liam Miller cross 12 yards out, yet the winger-s placement let him down as he volleyed wide of the left post with Aspden stranded.
At the other end of the field, Perth goalkeeper Danny Vukovic was once again a rather quiet night, with the strong defensive partnership of Bas van den Brink and Michael Thwaite affording little space to the State Team strikers.
When he was called upon though in the 32nd minute, the Glory custodian had little trouble dealing with Gustavo Giron-Marulanda-s curling free kick, barely having to move as he caught the ball clean.
Billy Mehmet, who has enjoyed a productive pre-season with three goals, was presented with a great chance to increase his tally in the absence of Shane Smeltz, yet failed to beat Aspden from a tight angle in the 38th minute, before van den Brink just failed to connect cleanly with Michael Twaite-s cut back a minute before the break.
After half-time, the State Team continued the high-pressure style it displayed in opening 45 minutes, and was presented with a favourable free-kick in the 51st minute. Once again though, Vukovic positioned himself well, and easily caught Mark Pritchard-s left-foot effort.
Glory captain Jacob Burns, who netted twice in the Glory-s last pre-season fixture against Inglewood United, then fired a fine shot into Aspden after some neat footwork in the box, before McGarry fired wide just after the hour mark after a neat build up by Mehmet and Josh Risdon.
The A-League clubs- frustrations in front of goal continued six minutes later, as Mehmet scuffed a volley wide from the edge of the box, before Dodd unleashed a fierce shot across the face of goal in the 68th minute.
With 12 minutes remaining in the match, Daniel Micevski finally forced a decent save out of Vukovic, with the Balcatta winger-s neat flick forcing a fine reflex save at the near post. The State Team though failed to create any further chances, allowing the Glory to preserve it 100% home pre-season record.
With season 8 of the Hyundai A-League only three weeks away, Perth Glory will complete their pre-season preparation with games in Melbourne on Wednesday, September 19 and Saturday, September 22.
“The next two games away against Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart will be top quality,” Ferguson added.
“The Victory are going to be favourites for the league and it-s going to be a good test for us, one I-m looking forward to.”
