Perth Glory’s fine pre-season form continued tonight with a solid 3-0 victory over the WA State Team at Intiga Stadium in Inglewood.
Perth Glory-s fine pre-season form continued tonight with a solid 3-0 victory over the WA State Team at Intiga Stadium in Inglewood.
With just under seven weeks until the opening A-League fixture against Brisbane Roar, Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson fielded a strong starting XI in his side-s first fixture since returning from its successful tour of South Africa, with striker Shane Smeltz making his first appearance for the club since returning from Olympic duty with New Zealand.
And it took the star forward little time to break through as Smeltz marked his return with a tidy volley at the back post in the 9th minute following Dean Heffernan-s cross from the left wing.
Jesse Makarounas then doubled the club-s lead eight minutes later as he tapped home from six yards, before forcing a smart save out of Alex Dunn with a strong short from the edge of the box just before the half-hour mark.
At half time, Ferguson made the first of his substitutions, with Heffernan, who enjoyed a superb first-half on the left wing, replaced by Adrian Zahra, whilst Brandon O-Neill made way for Steve Pantelidis.
State coach Kenny Lowe also rang in the changes during the break, with eight of his starting XI taking to the stands in the second half, and the change of players and formation appeared to reinvigorate his side, with Balcatta striker Ashley Rosindale forcing a fingertip save from Vukovic after a great cross in from former Glory player Ludo Boi.
Sorrento striker David Foster was then presented with a glorious opportunity to open the State Team-s account in the 55th minute, as he was played one-on-one with Vukovic after a great ball from the back, yet lacked composure as he blazed over from just inside the box.
The miss then was duly punished in the 72nd minute as Glory substitute Ndumba Makeche made it 3-0 with a smart finish under Dunn to seal the result for the A-League club.
