The Queensland Roar have posted their first home win of the Hyundai A-League season, using the inspiration of an astonishing Craig Moore comeback and a brilliant Charlie Miller goal to defeat the Perth Glory 4-1 at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday evening.
While Moore bravely skippered his side less than a fortnight after surgery for testicular cancer, Miller produced a 56th-minute goal that would have lit up any match around the world – putting the Roar three goals up and all but sealing the result.
There seemed little immediate danger when Michael Zullo swung the ball in from the left-hand side, but Miller soon changed that with an unstoppable right-foot volley that beat a stunned Tando Velaphi in the Perth goal.
Perth hit back within two minutes, as Nikita Rukavytsya surged past Luke De Vere in the box and crossed for Jamie Harnwell to score at the far post.
But the Roar had already stolen a winning break, thanks to Miller’s brilliance and a two-goal flourish late in the first half.
Youngster Mitch Nicholls put the icing on the cake in the 82nd minute, expertly lobbing the unfortunate Velaphi for his first Hyundai A-League goal.
Queensland coach Frank Farina was thrilled to finally secure three points at Suncorp Stadium.
“A win is always good for confidence. The big thing was it being at home,” Farina said.
“We’ve played very well at home I say this season, but the last three games we’ve failed to score.”
“Tonight we’ve scored four. The last few games we could have scored four as well but we took our chances tonight and that was the difference.”
Perth coach Dave Mitchell was left to lament a host of missed opportunities in his post-match press conference.
“The first half we dominated the game and created some good chances to score. I think if we’d capitalised on them we would have gone on to win the game,” Mitchell said.
“From dominating to being two goals down (in first-half stoppage time) – it was sickening really.”
“At half-time we said to the boys we were still in it if we got a goal and unfortunately they got the next goal. At 3-0 it was always going to be very difficult for us.”
Earlier, the Roar turned the game on its head by scoring twice in first-half stoppage time – after Perth had dominated much of the first 45 minutes.
The match had looked likely to be scoreless at half-time, before the whippet-quick Tahj Minniecon burst into the box and was brought down by Nikolai Topor-Stanley.
Referee Peter Green had no hesitation pointing to the spot and Sergio van Dijk coolly stepped up to slot the penalty in the 46th minute, much to the home crowd’s relief.
The Roar fans again had a goal to celebrate two minutes later as well and van Dijk and Minniecon were once more involved.
This time the Dutchman cleverly turned his man on the left-hand side of the area and his cross-cum-shot was tapped in by Minniecon at the far post.
The 2-0 half-time scoreline in no way reflected some of the promising attacking moves produced by the Glory in the opening half, with Harnwell and Adrian Trindidad both coming close to scoring.
Harnwell had the Roar goal at his mercy in the seventh minute, but Adriano Pellegrino’s well-directed cross skidded off the turf, hit the Glory striker in the thigh and then ballooned over the bar.
Trinidad went even closer in the 38th minute, as Liam Reddy produced a stunning save to deny the Argentinean.
Teed up by Wayne Shroj, Trinidad struck his first-time shot sweetly only to see a full-stretch Reddy parry it just wide of the right hand-post.
Queensland Roar 4 (van Dijk 46; Minniecon 48; Miller 56; Nicholls 82)
Perth Glory 1 (Harnwell 58)
Crowd: 9118, at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane.
