A superb late strike from Steven McGarry earned Glory a share of the spoils from Saturday’s pre-season clash with Melbourne Heart which was friendly in name only.
A superb late strike from Steven McGarry earned Glory a share of the spoils from Saturday’s pre-season clash with Melbourne Heart which was friendly in name only.
Referee David Bruce dished out no fewer than nine yellow cards at a rain and wind-lashed Hyundai Stadium in Mandurah, with Glory defender Steve Pantelidis picking up two of those and making a premature exit just before half-time.
Heart eventually made their numerical superiority count when Harry Kewell fired home from the edge of the box on 84 minutes, but as the final whistle loomed, McGarry produced a stunning finish of his own from some 25 metres out to lock things up at 1-1.
“With the wind behind us in the second-half, the manager had been on at me to have a dig whenever I could,” said the Scottish midfielder.
“I managed to find a bit of space and get a shot away and luckily it went in.
“But I think the most important thing today was to test ourselves against another A-League side.
“The weather meant it wasn’t a day for sexy football, but we tried to play as much football as we could.
“You could see from some of the early battles and challenges that even though it was just a friendly, it really meant something to the players.
“It was a difficult game for the referee to handle especially given the conditions and it was hard to judge where the ball was going to be landing.
“We were a bit disappointed with Steve’s red card, but I thought the lads adapted exceptionally well to being down to ten men and I still think we kept the ball for long periods. Overall, I think we’re looking pretty good.”
The first-half was light-on in terms of clear-cut goalscoring chances as both sides struggled to adapt to the wild weather conditions, but there was plenty of niggle right from the outset and it culminated in Pantelidis’ dismissal on 40 minutes.
Aziz Behich was guilty of a late challenge on Josh Risdon which prompted a melee involving upwards of a dozen players and once order had been restored, referee Bruce handed a second yellow to Pantelidis who had been already cautioned during the early exchanges.
Furious protests ensued from the rest of the Glory side, with opposing skipper Kewell also pleading Pantelidis’ case, but Bruce was not to be moved and the home side were forced to play out the final hour with ten men.
Half-time
Perth Glory 0-0 Melbourne Heart
After the break, Heart seemed to enjoy playing into the wind more than they had with it at their backs and duly carved out several decent opportunities in front of goal.
Substitute Andrea Migliorini made a lively impression, twice testing Vukovic with long-range strikes, while Iain Ramsay also went close along with Mate Dugandzic who forced another smart stop from the busy Glory ‘keeper.
Vukovic was powerless to prevent Heart from taking the lead with six minutes left, however, Dugandzic rolling a free-kick into the path of Kewell who fired low into the bottom corner.
But just as Heart seemed set to avenge Wednesday’s defeat at the hands of their A-League rivals, McGarry trumped Kewell with an even more impressive effort and secured a battling draw for the hosts that left assistant coach Gareth Naven more than satisfied.
“Alistair (Edwards) and myself are really happy,” he said.
“I thought we battled really well and days like this are probably not so much about football but more about character and I thought there was a lot of that in our group today.
“It was a good result which is important and I think we’re getting the small things right.
“The group is really starting to understand the task that Alistair and I want from them.
“In terms of this week’s festival of football, we’ve been focused on making Glory accessible to the community and I think we’ve done that really well.
“With the help of local government, we’ve been able to come down into the Peel region this week which is really important.
“There are a lot of juniors playing down here and it’s nice that we’ve been able to come and share Perth
Glory with them.”
Perth Glory 1-1 Melbourne Heart (Half-time 0-0 )
Hyundai Stadium, Mandurah
Saturday 14th September 2013
Referee: David Bruce
Perth Glory Line-Up: 1. Danny Vukovic, 4. Ryan Edwards (Danny De Silva 66′), 5. Steve Pantelidis, 7. Jacob Burns (C), 8. Ryo Nagai, 10. Jamie Maclaren, 14. Steven McGarry, 16. Sidnei, 19. Josh Risdon, 21. Scott Jamieson, 23. Michael Thwaite
Substitutes not used: 2. Jack Clisby, 3. Brandon O’Neill, 6. Cameron Edwards, 11. Adrian Zahra, 15. Matthew Davies, 20. Neil Young
Scorers: Steven McGarry 88′
Melbourne Heart Line-Up: 20. Andrew Redmayne (GK), 3. Patrick Kisnorbo (19. Ben Garuccio 65′) 6. Patrick Gerhardt, 7. Iain Ramsay (31. Stefan Mauk 61′) 8. Massimo Murdocca, 10. Harry Kewell (C), 13. Jonatan Germano (22. Andrea Migliorini 46′), 15. David Williams, 16. Aziz Behich, 17. Jason Hoffman, 23. Mate Dugandzic
Substitutes not used: 1. Tando Velaphi (GK), 25. Jeremy Walker, 24. Sam Mitchinson, 18. David Vrankovic
Scorers: Harry Kewell 84′
Gareth Morgan
