Kenny Lowe applauded an undermanned Perth Glory for pushing Central Coast Mariners all the way in the 1-0 defeat in Gosford on Sunday.
Missing a host of senior players, Glory battled bravely and were only denied a precious away point by Blake Powell’s decisive strike in the 78th minute.
“I can’t fault their effort, their passion, their desire to work their socks off,” Lowe said of his players.
“They’re a decent side, Central Coast, and I think If you look through our side we coped ever so well.
“In the first 20 [the Mariners] looked really dangerous.
“But I thought the second half could have gone either way. We were starting to feel comfortable.
“We weren’t disgraced here.”
Glory skipper Shane Lowry agreed with his coach’s assessment.
“It’s frustrating because I actually thought we defended quite well,” Lowry told Fox Sports.
“We spoke at half-time about trying to keep it 0-0 for as long as we could because we know we’ve got a lot of our injuries. It’s a tough one to take.”
In better news for Perth, injured stars Andy Keogh, Adam Taggart, Diego Castro, Scott Neville and Andreu are all likely to come under consideration for Saturday night’s visit from Newcastle Jets.
