Perth Glory Coach Dave Mitchell is adamant his side should have got at least a point out of their clash with Wellington following a dominant second half but acknowledged the club’s lack of finishing in front of goal was ultimately their undoing.
Perth Glory Coach Dave Mitchell is adamant his side should have got at least a point out of their clash with Wellington following a dominant second half but acknowledged the club-s lack of finishing in front of goal was ultimately their undoing.
The Glory rattled the woodwork twice and had several other chances to put the game beyond the reach of the Phoenix but were left to rue those misses when former Perth midfielder Leo Bertos struck the winner five minutes from time.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Glory who looked by far the more accomplished side in the second stanza and on another day could have had four or five hit the back of the net.
“We played well and have gone down to a free kick that has taken a wicked deflection,” Mitchell said.
“We are able to create chances but we need to put them away, it’s as simple as that.
“The more opportunities you make the law of averages say you’re going to eventually hit the back of the net and we need to be more clinical but I certainly think we did enough to get something out of the game, if not win it.”
Despite the result there were plenty of positives to be taken from the match, particularly the way Perth-s players combined as a unit despite several forced changed in the opening half hour due to illness and injury.
Tough defender Chris Coyne was substituted after 26 minutes after feeling the effects of a stomach bug while midfield ace Victor Sikora limped off a few minutes later with a corked thigh. Despite the disruptions Perth were able to regroup and produced some quality play to keep to the Kiwi-s at bay.
“We had a few players in unfamiliar roles after those early substitutions but to the lads credit they overcame that and in the second half I thought we got our act together and started producing some good football and creating chances,” Mitchell said.
“I think their goal came at a time when we were dominating and that was disappointing but I don-t think anyone out there could be blamed for that.”
One of the moves included striker Mile Sterjovski being deployed into midfield where he helped set-up several attacks while continuing to press forward to give the Phoenix defence a tough time.
“Mile went there and did well by creating a couple of chances for himself and others and on another day he probably would have put them away,” Mitchell said.
Perth now returns home upbeat about playing their first match at ME Bank Stadium and keen to grab all three points against Newcastle in front of home fans.
