It took 120 minutes with just 10 men, but Perth Glory FC has marched into the quarter finals of the Westfield FFA Cup after a 1-0 victory over Lions FC at Perry Park last night.
Glory winger, Chris Harold, finished superbly in the 116th minute, steering Perth to safety after goalkeeper Jerrad Tyson was given his marching orders inside the first ten minutes.
Reserve ‘keeper Nick Feely entered the fray and saved a penalty before making several other important saves in his whirlwind Glory debut.
Lions FC threatened early and should have taken the lead when Tyson felled Shoheel Khan inside the box.
Referee Peter Green had no hesitations in brandishing a red for the Round of 32 penalty hero, reducing Glory to 10 men with more than 80 minutes still to play.
Enter Feely. Fresh off his penalty save and clean sheet against the WA State XI last week, the 23-year-old again rescued Glory, saving Andre Bonotto’s ninth minute penalty well to his right hand side.
Despite the early blow, Glory settled into the game well, taking it to the home side who struggled to get the ball into their attacking half.
Glory almost capitalised in the 28th minute when Sidnei Sciola let loose a blistering long range shot, but the ball flew just over the crossbar.
In the 34th minute, Lions manufctured their best opportunity since the saved penalty when Khan found space on the right wing. He teed up Shaun Carlos, however he was only able to drive his shot into the Glory defence.
After the break Lions immediately threatened the Perth goal when Kado Aoci found time and space in the 46th minute.
Fortunately for Glory, the striker was unable to make solid contact and his weak shot was diverted away from the danger zone.
Five minutes later and this time it was Glory’s turn to threaten. Harold turned neatly and fired his shot on goal from beyond the area but Phillip Zabaks was equal to the task, saving well to his left.
Feely was enjoying his unexpected shift between the sticks, and he showed strong hands in the 56th when Michael Butters smashed the ball right at him after some smart build up play from Lions.
Perth were unable to break down a resilient Lions defence, but at the other end Feely was putting on a clinic. He saved a powerful shot from Alex Janovsky in the 74th minute before coming to the rescue again in the 91st minute, tipping over a free kick.
Neither side were able to find the decisive goal in the initial 90, so the match progressed to extra time.
Harold fired a warning shot barely four minutes into the first half of extra time, but his shot could only find the woodwork much to the dismay of Coach Kenny Lowe and the travelling Glory fans.
Glory continued to battle in spite of the numerical disadvantage, and with just three minutes left to play they were rewarded for their efforts.
Gyorgy Sandor wrangled his way into the box and slid the ball across into the path of Harold whose initial shot was blocked, but he was sure to bury the rebound in the back of Zabak’s net.
Perth survived a late Lions FC push, but managed to hold on – booking a place in the Westfield FFA Cup quarter finals for the second consecutive year.
MATCH DETAILS
Lions FC v Perth Glory
Wednesday, 25 August 2015
Perry Park, Bowen Hills (QLD)
Kick-off:Â 7:30pm local (5:30pm AWST)
Referee:Â Peter GREEN
Assistant Referees:Â Anton SHCHETININ and James SHERRY
Attendance: 2550
Lions FC Starting XI: 2. Michael BUTTERS, 9. Andre BONOTTO, 10. Kado AOCI (7. Andrew BUTLER 69), 11. Nathan REARDON, 12. Shaun CARLOS, 14. Alex JANOVSKY, 15. Alex SCHIAVO (8. Cody LOVELL 81’), 16. Josh BRINDELL-SOUTH (3. Jason TOBIN 117’), 17. Tommy JARRAD, 19. Shoheel KHAN, 99. Phillip ZABAKS (gk)
Subs not used: 1. Declan MURPHY (gk), 13. Danyon MOLLEE,
Yellow Cards: Nathan REARDON 63’
Perth Glory Starting XI: 3. Marc WARREN (20.Nicholas FEELY 8’), 5. Antony GOLEC, 6. Dino DJULBIC, 7. Gyorgy SANDOR, 10. Nebojsa MARINKOVIC, 11. Richard GARCIA (13. Diogo FERREIRA 87’), 12. Jerrad TYSON (gk), 14. Chris HAROLD, 16. Sidnei SCIOLA MORAES (21. Stefan VALENTINI 84’), 19. Joshua RISDON, 23. Michael THWAITE,
Subs not used: 15. Hagi GLIGOR, 18. Mitch OXBORROW,
Goal: 14. Chris HAROLD 117’
Yellow Card: Josh RISDON 57’
Red Card: Jerrad TYSON 7’
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