Perth Glory coach David Mitchell is hopeful his side has finally turned the corner on its shocking form on the road after climbing into fourth spot on the Hyundai A-League ladder with a 4-2 win over the Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium.
Despite their impressive results at Members Equity Stadium early in the 2009/10 Hyundai A-League season, the Glory had traveled poorly and dropped games to Adelaide United, Wellington and Central Coast.
It continued a long-standing, well-documented record of troubles on the road for Perth, who collected a total of just four points away from home last season.
Mitchell was confident the triumph over bogey side Brisbane would be the first of many away from Western Australia.
“The monkey is off our back,” Mitchell said.
“A couple of times we’ve played really well and we haven’t capitalised or we’ve conceded late goals in games.”
“Wellington was a perfect example – and also the Central Coast.”
“In general we’ve played really well and not got the just rewards, and tonight we didn’t play well and we’ve got three points, so I suppose that evens off a little bit.”
The victory also snapped a horror run that had seen the Glory beaten by the Roar in 10 of the past 11 clashes between the two sides, and Mitchell was confident his side had also put that hoodoo to bed.
Roar coach Frank Farina refused to be too critical of his side despite a number of crucial errors that wrecked their chances of snatching a share of the points.
‘”I think I’d prefer to go to the dentist and have some teeth pulled,” Farina said.
“It’s disappointing at home, but if you make that many mistakes and gift teams those goals – they will punish you.”
“We played alright, but you can’t make those mistakes and expect just to bounce back, three of the four goals we really could question.”
Roar playmaker Charlie Miller believed his side had outperformed the Glory on Sunday.
“It’s very difficult, but you can-t point the finger at any one player, it’s a team game,” Miller said.
“Four chances, four goals – that’s a sign of a good team maybe.”
“I thought we outplayed them, but we didn’t get the points and that’s the main thing.”
