The Glory have earned a much-needed 2-1 win over the Melbourne Victory in a hard fought match under the hot Perth sun at 6PR Stadium on Sunday evening.
The Glory have earned a much-needed 2-1 win over the Melbourne Victory in a hard fought match under the hot Perth sun at 6PR Stadium on Sunday evening.
The defensive pressure from both sides was outstanding in the 17th round of the Youth League, with small breaks in concentration enabling the goals to go through. An exciting second half brought the visitors into the game, but the Glory stayed in control of the pitch.
Perth’s Sebit Oyet and Adam Taggart were the main men for the victors while a team effort from Melbourne saw them stay in the game.
Victory’s captain Geoff Kellaway worked tirelessly up he ground until the end, but his team mates weren’t always present to support his efforts. James Kalifatidas wasn’t at the top of his game and hit the ground many times during play. While the Glory players made a true team effort.
The home side quickly got off to a good start with an Oyet goal in the third minute. The Glory had the edge with an attacking line up and their ball movement through the middle of the pitch was almost unstoppable, but Melbourne’s strong defence stopped further goals for the first half.
At the sixth minute Kellaway stole the ball to give Melbourne a chance to level the score, but the Glory read the play well and gained possession again. The visitors tried for a goal a second time four minutes later, but the ball hit the crossbar.
Sahr Musa worked hard to attempt another Glory goal, but Nicholas Ansell kept on top of the fast forward. While Melbourne Damir Lokvancic had a hard time down the other end of the pitch and buckled under Glory’s pressure to lose possession of the ball on many occasions.
With only minutes left in the first half Melbourne stepped up their drive with two attempts at the net, but Glory goal keeper caught the ball and prevented an even score at half time
The break rejuvenated both sides for the second half and although Perth missed their targets at the start Taggart broke their misfortune to take advantage of a lapse in Melbourne’s defence by kicking the ball into the back of an open net and take the lead to 2-0.
Victory’s Luke Pilkington and Paulo Retre worked aggressively for their side and Lokancic made up for mistakes made in the first half when Luke O’dea passed him the ball and with the Glory goal keeper on the ground, Lokancic was able to bring the margin back to one.
Oyet tried for his second goal when he danced around three Victory defenders, but couldn’t follow through when his attempt at the net hit the crossbar.
With the clock ticking over into additional time the shots at goal increased, including a leg stretching attempt by the Glory’s Cameron Edwards, but the ball only saw the sides of the net to keep the Glory at their 2-1 lead.
Perth Glory 2 (Oyet 3, Taggart 47)
Melbourne Victory 1 (Lokvancic 57)
