Perth Glory secured an inspiring 3-1 win over Adelaide United at the Sam Kerr Football Centre on Sunday, delighting home fans and club officials, including owner Ross Pelligra, head of football Stan Lazaridis, and men’s head coach David Zdrilic. This marked the team’s second victory of the season, and provided the club as a whole with a much-needed morale boost.
Playing against challenging 50km/h winds, Glory showed composure and grit to subdue their opponents and opened the scoring in the 24th minute with Naomi Chinnama’s first-ever A-League goal, a header from Georgia Cassidy’s free kick. Glory maintained control with strong midfield performances, effective counter-attacks, and standout play from Megan Wynne and Kelli Brown.
Adelaide adjusted after halftime, with the introduction of Chelsie Dawber and Meleri Mullan in the 65th minute providing the catalyst for their equaliser in the 70th minute when Dawber was played through by Mullan.
However, a penalty five minutes later restored Glory’s lead, with Gabrielle Hollar calmly converting after Wynne was fouled to claim her first-ever A-League goal. Hollar sealed the win in added time, heading in a Brown corner, while a late red card for Adelaide’s Matilda McNamara compounded the visitors’ woes.
Set Pieces Prove Decisive
Glory’s win on Sunday was built on a foundation of solid defence and swift counter-attacking play. Playing against a side with one of the meanest defences in the league, Glory had to try and find a way to score and their set pieces proved to be the key. A floated free-kick utilising the strength of the wind opened the scoring, a penalty despatched with ruthless efficiency restored their lead and a perfectly delivered corner put the icing on the cake to seal the three points.
Post-match, Adelaide coach Adrian Stenta acknowledged this, lamenting his team’s defensive lapses and inefficiency with their own set plays.
“We’ve been pretty good this year at keeping that ball out of the back of the net, so it’s disappointing that we conceded some goals from set pieces today and I thought we were wasteful with our (own) set pieces,” he said.
Glory Showing A Steely Edge
Sunday’s win was a sign that Glory are beginning to adapt to coach Stephen Peters game plan of not allowing teams to have time on the ball and to press as hard as they can when not in possession. They demonstrated this superbly in the first half and didn’t allow their opponents to dictate terms. At times this threatened to boil over, especially between Megan Wynne and Emily Hodgson, but Glory won the key battles at vital moments, a point picked up by Stenta after the game;
“I think the big difference in the game was that we lost quite a few of our 50/50s and duels and I thought our 1v1 defending was a little bit off, and when you’re a little bit off in the league in this league then its hard.
The penalty was the result of losing a 50/50 ball in the middle of the park with a contested header, then a little bit of sloppiness and we opened the door again,” he said.
From his perspective, Peters was delighted with the way his team went about their business;
“Well, I feel like when we’ve done well, we’ve been in the other team’s face. We did a lot of homework on Adelaide and (in) the wins that they’ve had, they’ve been quite physical in the games and very disciplined so we knew we had to sort of rattle the cage a little bit,” he said.
Windy Conditions
Strong winds made for a unique contest on Sunday, with both teams performing better against the gusts and playing their best football going against the wind, and the first two goals were scored when playing in that direction.
Facing the wind forced players to be more careful with their passing and keep things shorter but when they had the wind there was a tendency to go long and early resulting in overhit passes.
Peters and Stenta agreed the conditions required adjustments, with shorter, more precise passing proving effective.
“(I) thought we moved the ball well and defended well against the wind because it was howling out there, (but in the) second half we probably used the direct approach too much and went away from what was working for us in the 1st,” said Peters.
Stenta echoed these thoughts in his assessment of the conditions;
“I think playing into the wind forces you to play a bit more to feet and possession style and that’s how I want my team to play, but we didn’t use it very well in the first half and certainly didn’t play to our strengths (when we had the wind).”
Maiden Goals in the A-League
It’s not often a team sees two players score their maiden A-League goals in the same game, but this happened on Sunday with Chinnama and Hollar opening their accounts. Chinnama’s was probably the least expected, as the central defender has hardly threatened the opposition goal in her previous 46 games, but her firm header was a sign of someone who can be a threat from set pieces.
“She had practised those headers during training on Saturday, so it was nice for her to score and I think she feels good about that achievement, but if you ask her she would probably rather take the clean sheet because that’s the kind of drive she has,” said Peters.
Hollar has struggled in front of goal this season so opening her account was important. Getting a brace was a bonus for her and the team and Peters was effusive in his praise for the American striker after the game;
“Any forward needs goals from a confidence point of view and you could see what both goals meant to her.
She got dropped out of the side and was on the bench last week, but her training week was superb, and once we got the penalty, she was the only person who was going to take it, then finally we get one on her head that she can put away because that’s what she can do.”
Glory’s Women’s Team Lifts Morale
With just 3 wins all year for Perth Glory in the mens and womens leagues, it’s fair to say that the club is struggling.
On Saturday both sides found themselves at the foot of their respective tables and the men were humiliated at home, going down 4-0 to Newcastle Jets.
A sign of the need for a good result from the womens side was evident by the fact that the owner, director of football and men’s manager were all at the game for the first time at Sam Kerr Football Centre. The presence of senior officials underlined the match’s significance, with the win celebrated as a source of pride for the entire organization.
