Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson says his side must improve on the performance in their historic elimination final win against Melbourne Heart to beat Central Coast or Brisbane.
Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson says his side must improve on the performance in their historic elimination final win against Melbourne Heart to beat Central Coast or Brisbane.
Shane Smeltz’s second hat-trick in as many weeks – which came entirely in the second half – got Perth the 3-0 victory at nib Stadium on Sunday, which was their first win in a Hyundai A-League final.
Ferguson said he was absolutely delighted with the win, which set up a home minor semi-final clash on Saturday night against Wellington.
It also ensured his team would play in the Asian Champions League for the first time if Australia retains its 2.5 qualification spots.
But the coach said Perth would ‘without a doubt’ have to give a better account of themselves throughout the rest of the finals campaign to seriously challenge the Roar or the Mariners.
Brisbane are in the box seat to host the Grand Final after beating Central Coast 2-0 in the first leg of the major semi-final.
The Mariners will await the winner of Perth against Wellington if the Roar wrap up the tie.
“We were slow in transition … it wasn’t fluid football,” Ferguson said.
“We never really penetrated them at times when I thought we could’ve been a little bit quicker in transition and that gave them time to reset and get defenders back.
“But we got a better performance in the second half and I’ve got to be delighted with that.”
The fixture against the Phoenix is intriguing since it was the New Zealand side which eliminated the Glory in their only other A-League finals appearance, although Ferguson said he would not be using that as motivation.
But Smeltz, who has scored seven goals in the past eight days, said there will be extra motivation for him to perform well against the side he played for on 39 occasions.
“I’m quite close to a lot of the boys there and [Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert] as well. It’s going to be an exciting week and one I’m really looking forward to,” Smeltz said.
Smeltz described it as an ‘unbelievable’ feeling to lead Perth to their first win in a final since their 2004 National Soccer League triumph against Parramatta Power.
“A hat-trick in our first home final was brilliant … it’s something I’ll always remember,” the marquee striker said.
“It was a little bit concerning coming in at half-time. But when we got that first goal it really opened up after that.
“I have to give credit to everyone else in the squad because they all lifted and played their part.”
