Perth Glory deservedly came out on top in their pre-season clash with Melbourne Heart at Intiga Stadium, dominating their A-League rivals for long periods on an afternoon when both sides had to battle ferocious weather conditions.
Perth Glory have come out on top in their pre-season clash against Melbourne as they claimed a 1-0 victory at Intiga Stadium as both sides had to battle ferocious weather conditions.
Both coaches opted to field youthful starting line-ups in the first of this week’s two scheduled meetings between the sides and the hosts drew first blood as early as the ninth minute.
Heart lost possession as they attempted to build through central midfield, the ball ricocheted straight through to Jamie Maclaren and he raced clear before calmly beating former Glory ‘keeper Tando Velaphi to claim his second goal in as many games.
Alistair Edwards’ men were then handed an opportunity to double their lead from the penalty spot seven minutes later after referee David Bruce took a dim view of a challenge on Adrian Zahra.
Up stepped Maclaren, but although his penalty was well hit towards the bottom left-hand corner of the goal, Velaphi proved equal to it by producing a great one-handed save.
Velaphi continued to keep the home side at bay by tipping Jack Clisby-s long range effort onto the post on the half-hour mark and Heart rode their luck again just before the break as the impressive Sidnei floated the ball across to Adrian Zahra whose volley crept centimetres wide of the post.
Half-time
Perth Glory 1-0 Melbourne Heart
The second-half began in a low key manner after a torrential downpour during the interval caused the pitch to deteriorate, but Glory continued to look the more likely and went close to making it 2-0 just after the hour mark.
This time it was Ryo Nagai who forced yet another fine save from Velaphi and only some last-gasp defending prevented Sidnei from firing home the rebound.
Brandon O-Neill was the next to try his luck for the hosts, finding himself some space and firing in a long-range strike which Velaphi kept out and moments later Sidnei drew another smart stop from the overworked visitors’ ‘keeper.
In sharp contrast to his opposite number, Glory triallist Nick Feely saw precious-little action in the home goal, making a single regulation save on 80 minutes as Glory cruised through the final moments to secure the win that their performance and determination deserved.
Perth Glory – Nick Feely (GK), Matthew Davies, Jack Clisby, Brandon O-Neill, Dean Evans, Steve Pantelidis (C), Cameron Edwards, Adrian Zahra (Ryo Nagai 59′), Daniel De Silva (Ryan Edwards 79′), Sidnei Sciola, Jamie Maclaren (Harry O-Brien 46′)
Substitutes not used: Danny Vukovic (GK), Jacob Burns, Ljubo Milicevic, Steven McGarry, Josh Risdon, Scott Jamieson, Michael Thwaite
Scorers: Jamie Maclaren 9′
Melbourne Heart – Tando Velaphi (GK), Jeremy Walker, Samuel Mitchinson, Patrick Gerhardt (Massimo Murdocca 46′), Iain Ramsay, Jonatan Germano (Phil Petreski 60′), David Williams (Marcus Schroen 60′), David Vrankovic, Benjamin Garuccio, Stefan Mauk, Ross Archibald
Substitutes not used: Andrew Redmayne (GK)
