Perth Glory coach Kenny Lowe says his side’s drought-breaking victory over Western Sydney on Saturday night means nothing if they fail to carry that winning momentum into the final four rounds of the season.
An 87th minute wonderstrike from Josh Risdon helped Glory to a 3-2 win over the injury-depleted Wanderers at nib Stadium and end a nine-game winless run dating back to early January.
MATCH REPORT: Perth Glory 3 – Western Sydney Wanderers 2
Glory’s 11th win of the season lifted Lowe’s side to third on the Hyundai A-League table and within one point of leaders Wellington Phoenix, who hosts four-placed Sydney FC on Sunday.
Lowe said his players were believed to have finally tasted victory for the first time since January 2, but warned the breakthrough triumph mattered little if his side did not continue to win.
“Probably when you look back after the 27 games, if we do anything, then I think there may be some context in it,” Lowe said.
“But if you don’t do anything, there’s no context in it. It’s just another win.”
Lowe admitted to thinking “here we go again” when Kerem Bulut equalised in the 72nd minute before Risdon stepped up with a dashing run to score one of the goals of the season at the death.
Glory recorded six draws and three losses during their winless stretch, but Lowe said the fighting spirit which catapulted his team to the top of the A-League earlier in the season never dissipated over the past three months.
“It would have been so easy to roll over after drawing as many games as we have and not having as many wins as we wanted in the last 10,” Lowe said.
“I’ve said it all along we’ve had a great year, but what we didn’t want to do was for it to peter out and maybe after a result like tonight, hopefully it won’t peter out. We’re in the mix.
“We’ve had a fantastic year from where we were last year – an unbelievable year – and it’s a credit to those people in the changing room. Now we’ve got an opportunity to really kick on and get some momentum.”
Glory will regain youngsters Jamie Maclaren and Danny De Silva from Olyroos duty for next Monday’s clash with Newcastle at Hunter Stadium, but Lowe hinted he may hold the pair back another week.
Veteran midfielder Ruben Zadkovich will be assessed during the week after being ruled out of the Wanderers clash with a knee injury which required an injection and seven days of complete rest.
Winger Youssouf Hersi is also an outside chance of resuming from a hamstring injury which has sidelined him since late November.
