Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson says he’s very pleased with today’s 2-1 win over Melbourne Victory at AMMI Park in Melbourne.
Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson says he-s very pleased with today-s 2-1 win over Melbourne Victory at AMMI Park in Melbourne.
Despite missing Shane Smeltz, Liam Miller, Dean Heffernan, Steven McGarry and Bas van den Brink, Perth Glory maintained their positive pre-season form.
“Today was a good test of our depth and the young players did well,” Ferguson said.
“Adrian Zahra, Scott Jamieson, Josh Risdon and Ryo Nagai were all very good.
“I also thought Nick Ward was outstanding. Today he reminded me of the player he was when he was playing in the A-League every week.
“He was everywhere, winning tackles, screening and also complemented Jacob Burns.”
And it was Ward who gave Perth Glory the lead on 10 minutes when the former Victory midfielder fired home from 25m.
The Glory then doubled their advantage on 37 minutes when Nagai was fouled by the Victory-s Brazilian midfielder Guilherme Finkler inside the penalty box. With Smeltz sitting out the game, Billy Mehmet converted the spot kick, sending Lawerence Thomas the wrong way.
But the Victory pulled a goal back within three minutes when Marcos Flores also scored from the penalty spot.
Ferguson praised the efforts of Japanese traillist Nagai who played the role just behind the striker.
“Ryo had good movement, nice touches and also linked well with Billy Mehmet.
“He was a bit short on game time so I took him off but he-ll play again on Saturday against the Heart.”
