Can Glory make it a Happy New Year for The Shed? Get your ticket today and Roar your side to three precious points!
Perth Glory v Brisbane Roar
Wednesday 4th January, 7.00pm
Can Glory make it a Happy New Year for The Shed? Get your ticket today and Roar your side to three precious points!
New year, new beginnings, new hope! 2011 was pretty testing time to be a Perth fan, as form and results were patchy at best. However, The Shed’s support remained incredible throughout and, as the team enters 2012, all eyes remain firmly on the play-off places.
It’s a time for optimism and for renewed belief, so, as you always do, get behind this talented bunch of players and start the new year in style! Head along to nib Stadium on Wednesday night and create the kind of atmosphere that will spur your players on to three points!
Of course, there is extra incentive for Perth to seek the win in this midweek match-up, after Brisbane absolutely turned Glory over when the sides last met on what was a historic day for Australian sport.
The 4-0 demolition at Suncorp stadium marked Roar’s 36th game without defeat and set a new record for unbeaten matches in any Australian sporting code, surpassing the previous achievement set by Eastern Suburbs in the NSWRL 74 years ago. While Perth magnanimously, and rightly, joined in with the praise showered on the champions for this feat, there is no denying that the loss – and its manner – really hurt Glory.
Roar simply tore them apart in a first-half master-class led by Besart Berisha and Issey Nakajima-Farran. The damage was done by the interval, after which Perth did well to shut up shop and keep the score at four.
Since then Brisbane Roar have proved to be anything but unbeatable, with a string of defeats at the back end of 2011 seeing them lose their place at the top of the ladder. Indeed, their last away game illustrated just how far the mighty have fallen.
A local derby at Skilled Park against the league’s bottom club would, not so long ago, have been a cakewalk for last year’s double winners but, instead, a late penalty gave bitter rivals Gold Coast United a remarkable 1-0 victory in the Boxing Day clash and subjected Ange Postecoglou’s side to their fifth straight loss. It was the first time in two years they had fallen to their local rivals.
However, while this might be the perfect time to take on Brisbane Roar, Perth will have to improve their own home form if they are to gain revenge for that 4-0 humbling earlier in the season.
Their last two games at nib Stadium have ended in defeat. Recently, ladder-leaders Central Coast Mariners recorded a comfortable 3-1 win against 10-man Glory after Josh Mitchell was shown a red card and, before that, an 87th-minute goal from Mate Dugandzic saw Melbourne Heart claim a dramatic 2-1 victory just when Perth seemed like they had done enough to take a point from the game.
It’s Glory against Roar on Wednesday and, with The Shed’s help, it might just be payback time! Get along to nib Stadium and see if Perth can serve up some sweet revenge for that 4-0 thumping at Suncorp Stadium. Brisbane aren’t the invincible force they once were, so be there as the side from WA try to take them down!
