Glory suffered a narrow defeat for the second time in the space of three days as Rhali Dobson’s second-half goal secured a 1-0 win for Melbourne City at Dorrien Gardens.
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Alex Epakis’ side went toe-to-toe with the reigning Westfield W-League champions throughout a hard-fought 90 minutes, with Caitlin Doeglas a constant threat going forward.
And while the result leaves Glory still searching for that elusive first win of the campaign, Epakis was again pleased with the character shown by his young squad.
“I feel like a broken record,” he said, “but we competed, played above ourselves and did our absolute best for 90 minutes.
“Unfortunately we lacked a bit of experience and cutting edge which the opposition had and they took advantage of that and utilised it better than we did.
“Again, after the amount of work we did physically, I’m very happy with the girls because we’ve probably done what no team in world football has done before and played four or five games in the space of 14 days.
“So for the girls to be continuing to produce the physical output they are is credit to them.
“Now we have a bit of time before our final two matches and we’ve got to make the most of that and maintain that level of performance.”
It was City who were the faster out of the blocks on a warm night in Perth and they created the first chance as Jenna McCormick got in front of her marker to meet a Chinatsu Kira corner, only to see her flicked header fly narrowly wide.
Having taken some time to settle, Glory responded with a chance of their own, Caitlin Doeglas showing a great turn of pace to outstrip the Melbourne defence, but ultimately finding the side-netting with her well-struck shot.
Chances were at a premium for the remainder of a closely-contested first half and it took until the 50th minute for either defence to be seriously threatened again as Kira’s free-kick fell kindly in the box for City skipper Emma Checker who scooped her shot over the bar.
Substitute Samantha Johnson then headed straight at Lily Alfeld as Rado Vidosic’s side continued to ask questions of the Glory defence and they eventually broke through midway through the second half.
The lively Alex Chidiac slipped the ball into the path of the onrushing Dobson who fired across Alfeld and into the far corner.
To their credit, Glory responded by creating a decent chance of their own almost immediately, Hana Lowry meeting Doeglas’ cutback with a shot which Melissa Barbieri saved low to her left.
But despite enjoying long periods of possession in the latter stages, the hosts were ultimately unable to break down a resolute City rearguard.
Match Details
Perth Glory 0 Melbourne City 1 (Dobson 67′)
Half-time: 0-0
Dorrien Gardens, Perth
Referee: Kelly Jones
Perth Glory: 1.Lily ALFELD (GK), 4.Natasha RIGBY (C), 5.Deborah-Anne DE LA HARPE, 7.Elizabeth ANTON, 8.Hana LOWRY, 9.Malia STEINMETZ (6.Tijan MCKENNA 66′), 10.Alexia MORENO (23.Katarina JUKIC 73′), 12.Sarah MORGAN (17.Marianna TABAIN 73′), 13.Jamie-Lee GALE (2.Sarah CARROLL 46′), 14.Caitlin DOEGLAS, 16.Isabella WALLHEAD,
Substitutes not used: 20.Rebecca BENNETT (GK)
Yellow Cards: Gale, Lowry
Red Cards:
Melbourne City: 23.Melissa BARBIERI (gk), 5.Tori TUMETH, 6. Noor ECKHOFF, 8.Hollie PALMER, 9. Alex CHIDIAC, 10.Chinatsu KIRA, 11.Rhali DOBSON, 15. Emma CHECKER (c), 18.Leah DAVIDSON, 19.Tyla-Jay VLAJNIC (20. Lia MULDEARY 82′), 21. Jenna McCORMICK, 22. Naomi THOMAS-CHINNAMA (17. Samantha JOHNSON 40′)
Substitutes not used: 13.Sarah CAIN, 30.Sophia VARLEY (gk)
Yellow Cards: Vlajnic, Chidiac
Red Cards: None
#OneGlory
