Perth Glory coach Alistair Edwards is looking forward to his side’s first home game of the season after two tough games on the road to start their 2013/14 Hyundai A-League campaign.
Perth Glory coach Alistair Edwards is looking forward to his side’s first home game of the season after two tough games on the road to start their 2013/14 Hyundai A-League campaign.
After kicking off the season with a 3-1 loss to Adelaide, the Glory produced a gutsy effort to earn a 0-0 draw with the Jets in Newcastle on Sunday afternoon – a result that has Edwards in a buoyant mood as his side look ahead to hosting the Melbourne Heart at nib Stadium next weekend.
“It is always tough to come here to Newcastle and we have had some decent results through the years here, but to come back with a draw, one point is good, but as we finished the game strongly it would have been nicer to come back with three,” Edwards said post-match.
“Now we have got the opportunity to bring the improved performance back to nib Stadium in Perth and the fans there are really craving for some A-League.
“They have seen what has happened on the east coast and they are really looking forward to seeing some really good football.”
The Glory spent the first half of Sunday afternoon’s game defending their own goal as the Jets pressed for the strike.
But a change of game plan at half-time and a tinkering in the point of attack to Newcastle’s wings proved advantageous for Perth as they created a number of clear opportunities in the second half and almost stole the match with chances to Jamie MacLaren and Sidnei.
“We weren’t particularly happy with our first half, from a coaching perspective because we didn’t keep the ball as well as we wanted to,” Edwards said.
“We spoke about it in the change room at half-time to really make sure we go forward in a structured way and to make sure we were balanced off and we did that and the front four guys caused a bit of havoc particularly in the last half an hour.
“We got control of the ball and we circulated it very well and we managed to break very well and create some good chances. And with some better finishing we should have got on the scoresheet.”
Edwards was particularly impressed with the performance of young forward Jamie MacLaren and attacking midfielder Ryan Edwards, who both came into their own in the second half with a number of attacking forays.
The Glory coach said MacLaren was sure to be a regular scorer once he slotted his first A-League goal.
“He was like that in the pre-season and once he scored it opened the floodgates and he scored six goals in the pre-season,” Edwards said of the Young Socceroo.
“The most important thing is he is working ever so hard for the team and the chances will come, because he is a good technically-gifted player, he gets into good positions and two away games for us has been tough but now we are looking forward to playing back in Perth.”
