A delightful Richard Garcia strike in the opening five minutes against WA NPL outfit Cockburn City,was enough to round out the night on a high for the Glory boys in yesterday’s pre-season friendly.
About 500 devoted football fans turned out to Dalmatinac Park on a wet and cold night but the conditions didn’t dampen the mood.
The match was also a tribute for Esad Djulbic- father of towering Glory defender Dino- who lost his long battle with cancer at the weekend.
A make-shift line up saw Garcia, Chris Harold and Sidnei Sciola in the forward line, while Nebo Marinkovic, Mitch Oxborrow and new signing Hagi Gligor slotted in the midfield.
Josh Risdon, Michael Thwaite and new signings Antony Golec and Jerrad Tyson (gk) rounded out the defence.
It didn’t take long for Glory to assert its authority and within five minutes Garcia got on the end of a sweet pass, turned his marker and fired low and hard to beat Glory’s NPL ‘keeper Jordan Franken who was standing in at goals for Cockburn.
There was some beautiful link-up play between Harold and Risdon, who made his trade-mark, runs down the wing, while Harold, Sidnei and Garcia looked lively up front.
Trialist Marc Warren from Apia Leichardt was also impressive with some neat balls into the box on the back of some dashing runs on the left.
Assistant Coach Andy Ord said there were some positive signs ahead.
“We moved the ball into different positions well and we created some havoc up front. For us really tonight was a chance to play as a team against another 11. It was a great opportunity to get some fitness and play as a unit”.
Garcia said it was great to get onto the pitch and mix with it with some of his new teammates.
“It was definitely a good opportunity to get a run and start seeing how we gel together. We can only keep improving and the more hit-outs we have the better we’ll understand each other”
The second ’45 saw Glory’s youngsters (NPL Team) take to the field. Stefan Valentini had a golden chance seven minutes from time to double the score but his shot went wide.
Perth Glory would like to thank everyone at Cockburn City and Dalmatinac Park for their hospitality on the night.
Keep an eye out on @PerthGloryFC and follow us on Facebook  for all the latest news and upcoming pre-season fixtures.
#WestvsRest
