Perth Glory coach Dave Mitchell believes a heavy training load may have contributed to his side’s poor passing game in a 1-1 draw with Brisbane on Sunday afternoon.
Although the Glory dominated possession, particularly in the first half, Mitchell felt his players lacked precision delivering into the forward third, allowing a solid Roar defence to repel numerous attacks.
Perth paid for its missed chances as Brisbane scored against the run of play, Luke DeVere poking the ball home after Josh McCloughan nodded Henrique’s corner down to the youngster in the 52nd minute.
And although the Glory equalised through substitute Jamie Harnwell 12 minutes from time, Mitchell was left to lament the lost opportunity and the fact his fifth-placed side could not distance itself from the chasing pack in an increasingly congested table.
“We’re happy with the draw in the end, but overall, disappointed not to get the three points,” Mitchell said.
“I just don’t think we were as sharp as we could be in our final third. The conditions didn’t help and certainly when you try to open teams up you have to be very sharp and make sure your touches are good.”
“I felt there were just a few players that weren’t on song and that reflected in some of the sloppy passing that we had.”
“They did their defence very well but that’s where we have to be better.”
Mitchell said pitch conditions may have contributed to the poor passing, but felt it was more likely a double training session last Thursday, that included match practice, was responsible for the lack of sharpness.
However the coach was particularly pleased for fan favourite Harnwell, whose scuffed shot squirmed into the back of the net off Griffin McMaster’s hands and the goalpost.
Harnwell didn’t care how scrappy the goal was, the score being just reward for a season blighted by serious hamstring and knee injuries that have restricted him to just two appearances.
“It probably wasn’t the goal I was expecting to score, but I’ll take a left-foot side-foot any day,” said the 32-year-old whose return from the hamstring injury in Round 7 was ruined by a bad knock to the knee that saw him miss the next two months.
“Having the two injuries one after the other always puts doubts in the back of your mind whether you can come back and perform at the level you want to.”
“Coming on I was taking deep breaths on the sidelines because I knew it was such a big chance and it’s been a long time coming for me.”
“But I’ve been pretty lucky that I’ve come back probably earlier than most people expected and come back in a bit of form as well so I was pretty happy.”
“I wanted to put a case forward for a place in the starting 11 and for being here next year. It’s a huge relief and a huge weight off my shoulders.”
