Rarely has a team faced such an incident-packed season as Perth Glory.
Perth Glory v Melbourne Victory
Saturday 10 December 2011
6PR Stadium, Perth
Local kick-off: 4pm
Rarely has a team faced such an incident-packed season as Perth Glory.
The loss of half a dozen international players in the off-season was a prelude to being stranded in Canberra for the best part of a week, and having a match postponed due to wet weather in Newcastle while bushfires raged in their home state.
Then last weekend, the team suffered a devastating and record-breaking loss, unforseen in its magnitude. Jamie Harnwell-s inexperienced young team fell apart in the face of an onslaught from Sydney-s star-studded roster to concede an astonishing nine second-half goals.
Now they must somehow put that result behind them if they are to win this and maintain their play-off ambitions.
The last time the pair met the Victory came away with only a 2-0 win although, in truth, the scoreline didn-t reflect the gulf between the teams in that match on the opening day of the season.
Since then the Victory have improved considerably, culminating in an impressive and deserved win against Newcastle Jets last weekend. Another similarly stout defensive showing and fluent attacking display would see the Victory take a giant stride towards a semi-final berth, as they aim to make the most of Newcastle-s weekend off.
