Melbourne Victory finished second in Group A of the Foxtel Y-League after suffering a 3-1 loss to Perth Glory on Sunday.
Despite enjoying the better of the opening stages in hot conditions at Epping Stadium, Victory fell behind after a Yagoub Mustafa strike and Cameron McGilp own goal.
A Christian Theoharous penalty dragged Victory back into the game, but Perth sealed its win through Oliver Annis.
Victory head coach Gareth Naven, whose team ended up second in Group A as its five-game unbeaten run was ended, said his side needed to work on small details.
“I think we should’ve got more than what we did out of the game,” he said.
“But in saying that, Perth Glory is a team that plays in transition and if our habits on the ball and our ability to pass correctly, accurately, we’re going to turn it over and they’re going to hurt us, that’s what happens in transition.
“That’s something we spoke about, it’s something we as a group have got to learn from and be committed to understand and learn from those mistakes.
“Especially in the first half, it’s the detail of youth players, knowing and doing their role to the smallest detail and respecting and understanding that and I think we’ve got a way to go in that and understanding that one yard left or right of where you should be is an important one yard.
“I think we do it, but more times wrong than right, especially in crucial situations.
“We had two decent crosses that came across the box in the first half and we expect our wingers to be inside the post, not arriving outside the post. The full-back gets the clearance instead of the striker tapping it in.”
Victory made the better start and should have gone ahead as Nicholas Sette and Theoharous both had early chances.
Instead, Perth struck twice in the space of three minutes.
Mustafa drilled in a 20-yard effort to put Glory ahead before McGilp turned a cross from the left into his own net.
Victory pulled a goal back before the break, Theoharous converting from the penalty spot after being brought down in the area.
After a scrappy start to the second half, Perth restored its two-goal lead, Matthew Sutton – who had earlier made two good saves – unable to stop an in-swinging Annis corner from crossing the line.
Foxtel Y-League 2017/18 Round 10
Melbourne Victory 1 (Christian Theoharous 39′ pen)
Perth Glory 3 (Yagoub Mustafa 35′, Cameron McGilp 37′ og, Oliver Annis 73′)
