An undermanned Perth Glory Youth side has fought out a 1-1 draw against Adelaide United at ME Bank Stadium. Midfielder Howard Fondyke equalising in the second half in what was an entertaining Friday afternoon clash.
An undermanned Perth Glory Youth side has fought out a 1-1 draw against Adelaide United at ME Bank Stadium. Midfielder Howard Fondyke equalising in the second half in what was an entertaining Friday afternoon clash.
The result takes Perth-s unbeaten run to three games, a fantastic performance from the young Glory side considering the mounting odds they-ve had to overcome. The youngsters have been up against it so far this season with injury ruling out half their squad.
The West Aussies were also dealt another blow before the warm-up with striker Mario Marcinko collapsing in the change rooms. The big striker has been given the all clear but wasn-t risked in the match.
With such a young side on the park Fondyke, who is now a senior listed player for Perth, stepped up to take on a leadership role and the 19 year old said he has enjoyed the challenge.
“I-ve got to step up and make a name for myself,” Fondyke said after the match.
“I-m happy to be doing what I-m doing and hopefully I can press for a spot in the first team very soon.
“I enjoyed the goal, I haven-t scored in a while so it was good to get that one, hopefully I-ll get a few more during the season,” said Fondyke.
The Reds took the lead into the break thanks to a close-range header from Francesco Monterosso but could have had a couple more to show for their tenacity in the opening 45 minutes.
In the 37th minute, a sensational cross by Adelaide’s Joel Allwright saw Dane Milovanovic force Glory stopper Tim Doyle to tip over the bar from a headed attempt and they had the lead from the next play.
Tim Wooding sent in the corner and an unmarked Monterosso connected on a downward header that crossed the line despite a desperate attempted clearance from Glory skipper Steve Hesketh.
As they did last week, Perth looked more solid in the second half and used the pace of Ludovic Boi pace down the left flank to great effect. It was the classy midfielder who set-up the goal for Fondyke and he continues to impress in each outing for the youth side.
The Glory had a great chance to take full points in the 90th minute as Adelaide lost possession and striker Million Butshiire was given a free run at goal. The striker squared the ball from for substitute Adam Taggart but instead of slipping it further across to an unmarked Boi he opted to shoot directly into the defender and the chance went begging.
The results sees Perth sit in third place on the National Youth League table while Adelaide go top on goal difference.
“We are buzzing after that, they had a strong side out there and we had a few young boys that stepped up to the plate and did a good job for us,” said Fondyke.
“Everyone is pretty excited now that we-re climbing up the table. We didn-t have a good start to the season but we-re staring to get things going and hopefully we-ll go on and win a lot more games.”
National Youth League – Rd 5
Perth Glory 1 (Howard Fondyke 57-)
Adelaide United 1 (Francesco Monterosso 37-)
Friday, 9 October 2009 at ME Bank Stadium, Perth
Referee: David Costello
Perth Glory Squad: 20.Tim DOYLE (gk) (1.Alex PEARSON (gk) 45-), 2.Ryan EDWARDS (16.Adam TAGGART 60-), 3. Steve HESKETH, 4.Scott BULLOCH (OA) (12.Stephen WALMSLEY 60-), 5.Howard FONDYKE, 6.Brent GRIFFITHS, 8.Clayton ARNEZ, 10.Million BUTSHIIRE, 11.Ludovic BOI, 13.Matthew IZZO (7.Cameron EDWARDS 45-), 14.Glen TRIFIRO
Substitutes not used:
Yellow cards: Steve Hesketh 64-, Brent Griffiths 81-
Red cards:
Adelaide United squad: 1.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 3.Michael DOYLE (6.Alex SUNASKY 53-), 4.Dane MILOVANOVIC, 5.Daniel MULLEN, 7.Joel ALLWRIGHT, 8.Matthew MULLEN, 10.Andrew CIARLA (16.Kingsley FRANCIS 60-), 11.Liam WOODING (9.Evan KOSTOPOULOS 55-), 12.Inseob SHIN, 15.Francesco MONTEROSSO, 17.Perry MITRIS
Substitutes not used: 20.Codey LARKIN (gk),
Yellow cards: Matthew Mullen 60-, Inseob Shin 73-
Red cards:
