Glory snatch draw with Adelaide after Andrews’ late penalty

A stoppage-time penalty from Morgan Andrews has seen Perth Glory snatch a thrilling 2-2 draw against Adelaide United at Marden Sports Complex on Friday night.

With her side trailing 2-1, Andrews kept her nerve to send Sarah Willacy the wrong way and slot her spot-kick as Glory completed an impressive second-half fightback.

The Reds looked on course for their first win of the campaign as goals from Chelsie Dawber and Mary Fowler in the space of seven minutes before the break handed Ivan Karlovic’s side the initiative.

But Glory hit back early in the second half through American attacker Crystal Thomas and then completed the comeback right at the death.

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The result means both sides are still searching for the first wins of the season.

Glory remain in eighth spot with two points from seven matches, one ahead of the Reds who will be bitterly disappointed not to have taken more from the match.

It was the visitors who made the better start with only a mixture of wasteful finishing and some excellent shot-stopping from Reds keeper Willacy.

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Willacy did brilliantly to deny Kat Jukic early on, pushing her effort onto the crossbar, while she produced a stunning double save to deny Morgan Andrews and Celia Jimenez soon after.

The Reds slowly worked their way into the contest and Amber Brooks was inches away from opening the scoring as she got on the end of Kahlia Hogg’s free-kick but was denied by the post.

Adelaide took more control as the half went on and got their rewards just before the break.

First Dawber latched onto a through-ball and after setting herself she slid the ball past the keeper for her first-ever Westfield W-League goal.

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Dawber then turned provider as she teed up Fowler to make it 2-0 in the final minute of the first half, arrowing a low shot into the bottom corner from just inside the box.

Whatever Glory boss Bobby Despotovski said at the break had the desired affect as the visitors halved the deficit seven minutes after the restart.

A simple long ball over the top caught out the Reds defence and Thomas raced onto it, turned inside a defender and slamming it into the top corner of the net.

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Dawber almost had her second just after the hour-mark but her shot on the turn from point-blank range was straight at Glory shot-stopper Eliza Campbell.

With Glory pushing hard for an equaliser late on, the Reds had a few chances on the break with Fowler curling a shot just wide of the post, while Charlotte Grant’s long-range strike was just over the bar.

Those misses proved costly in injury-time as the referee spotted a trip in the box giving Andrews the chance to equalise and she made no mistake.

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