The PGFC Academy First Team’s latest NPL WA outing ended in defeat as they were edged out 2-1 by Rockingham City at SafeRad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts raced into a two-goal lead at the break courtesy of efforts from Michael Farmer and Harry Collins and although Glory laid siege to the City goal in the second half and reduced the arrears through Liam Murray 15 minutes from time, they were ultimately unable to find the equaliser.
The result left Head Coach Richard Garcia frustrated, but he remained upbeat in terms of his side’s top-four prospects.
“We’re really disappointed with the result today, conceding two goals from set-pieces are goals we can avoid and we have to improve in that area of our game,” he said.
“We got back into the match with a good goal from Liam [Murray] and to be fair, we played a lot better in the second half.
“But they had ten men behind the ball and frustrated us and we have to be better in the final third.
“We’re still only two points off a top-four spot and we’ll be doing all we can in the final three games.
“The lads were disappointed in the rooms after the game, but we all know there is a long way to go in the season and we’ll be looking to bounce back next week against Cockburn City.”
Rockingham, who are still in relegation mix, had the first real chance of the afternoon after a neat give-and-go on the edge of the box, but Robbie Galvin fired wide of the target.
Glory responded almost immediately as Bryce Bafford sent Ethan Brooks down the right and his cross picked out Gabriel Popovic, only for the striker to fire his first-time effort straight at Rockingham ‘keeper Cyril Sharrock.
On 16 minutes, however, it was the home side that hit the front, Farmer firing home from close-range after Galvin’s corner wasn’t dealt with.
And the home side duly doubled their lead on 27 minutes, Nick Speca doing well to save Galvin’s free-kick before Collins latched onto the loose ball and found the top corner with a spectacular effort from 25m out.
Stung by the double setback, Glory improved as the half wore on and thought they had earned a penalty when Brooks looked to have been pulled back by Justis Bradley, but referee Shane Skinner waved away the players’ protests.
Garcia’s side continued to threaten after the break, substitute Murray and Luke Bodnar both forcing Sharrock into action before they finally managed to halve the arrears in the 75th minute.
After Jack Leech and Gomo Dukuly combined on the edge of the penalty area, Murray showed quick feet to shake off his marker and get away a shot which deflected off Collins and looped over over a stranded Sharrock into the net.
Brooks went closest to making it 2-2 in a frenetic finale, but he saw his low shot saved by Sharrock and City hung on grimly to claim all three points.
There was better news for the visitors in the day’s other games, with the Under-18s and Under-20’s both cementing top spot in their respective tables courtesy of 2-1 and 2-0 victories.
Match Details
Rockingham City 2 (Farmer 16’, Collins 27’) Perth Glory 1 (Murray 75’)
Half-Time: 2-0
Referee: Shane Skinner
Rockingham City: GK Cyril SHARROCK, 3.Justis BRADLEY, 5.Harry COLLINS, 6.Robbie GALVIN 7.Koty MILLARD (14.Ryan KENNEDY 86’), 9.Sam MCKEARNEN, 10.James HARMER, 12.Lydon HODGKISS (13.Jarred Mort 74’), 18.Michael FARMER, 20.Mitch FIRTH, 23.Victor BRAUNER (15.Shaz RAMLEE 90’)
Substitutes not used: RGK Lachlan MORRISON
Yellow Cards: Farmer 45’, Galvin 70’, Millard 79’, Harmer 87’
Red cards: None
Perth Glory: GK Nicholas SPECA, 2.Alessandro CICARTI, 3.Trent OSTLER, 4.Daniel WALSH, 5.Nicholas WALSH, 6.Luke BODNAR (24.Josh SAMSON 83’), 7.Ethan BROOKS, 8.Jack LEECH, 9.Luke SALMON (22.Liam MURRAY 46’), 10.Bryce BAFFORD, 11.Gabriel POPOVIC (19.Gomo DUKULY 62’)
Substitutes not used: RGK Jacob RANGE, 15.Jordan ABRAHAMS,
Yellow cards: Samson 45’, Brooks 72’
Red cards: None
#OneGlory
