The sum of the parts is greater than the individual
Perth Glory’s season has been punctuated by disruption, injury and Covid and yet they continue to push for a top 4 place. This is due, in no small part, to the resilience, camaraderie and strength in depth that Alex Epakis and his coaching staff have built into the squad. All season Glory have had to call on players to step up and do a job when circumstances have dictated, and they did it again on Saturday.
Liz Anton, one of their most reliable defenders, was away on international duty, so coach Alex Epakis handed Claudia Mihocic her ALW debut against a side that had just held Sydney FC to a draw and had scored 24 goals. The youngster had a solid game and just slipped in as though she had been playing next to Kim Carroll all season. Morgan Aquino injured her finger in the warmup, so Courtney Newbon stepped up from the bench and kept her side in the game during the first half with a superb save. Substitutes Lisa De Vanna, Leena Khamis, Aideen Keane and Alana Jancevski all came on to play their part, none more so than De Vanna and Khamis who helped drive the team to the three points.
Experience is a priceless asset
A lot has been made of the youthful makeup of the Glory squad, but it was their most experienced players who stood up on Saturday. Carroll and Mie Leth Jans once again showed that if you can keep your composure and stay in the game then anything is possible. The introduction of De Vanna and Khamis in the second half by Epakis was the catalyst for Glory’s increase in intensity. Victory just couldn’t match that, and it was the veteran striker Khamis who ensured the three points for Glory with her neat finish in the 73rd minute, following a sublime flicked pass by American import Cyera Hintzen.
Playing two games in three days is very hard
Melbourne Victory would have understandably been buoyed by their dramatic draw against Sydney in their previous game, but as the game on Saturday moved into the last 30 minutes there was a noticeable drop off in both intensity and execution by the Victory team, who had previously been unbeaten in five games. Coach Jeff Hopkins was pleased with his team’s performance but pointed to the game against Sydney as a possible reason for this:
“I thought we passed the ball really well, built the ball up well, just I think the game mid-week against Sydney took a lot out of us, more than we thought I think, physically and maybe emotionally as well. I thought it was a good performance, but it just lacked a little bit of energy, especially in the final third”, he said.
Alex Chidiac will be a big loss for Victory
Despite being on the losing side and still not registering a goal, Chidiac was always at the heart of the good work done by Victory in the first half and it was noticeable that as her influence waned in the second half, so did Victory’s chances of winning. Hopkins took her off with 12 minutes to go and she looked pretty spent at that stage. Her close control and excellent dribbling as well as her ability to play players into space created some major headaches for Glory in the opening half, and when she returns to JEF United Chiba in Japan at the end of the month she will be difficult to replace.
Perth Glory corners are lethal
Once again, an in-swinging corner proved to be a fruitful route to goal for Glory. A number of teams have struggled this season to prevent the combination of Deborah-Anne De La Harpe and Jans from these corners and the pair combined again on Saturday. As well as the two goals scored this way, there have also been a number of near-misses. This near post flick is perhaps an homage from Epakis towards the team he follows, as Arsenal used the same routine to great effect during the George Graham era, when Steve Bould perfected the near post flick.
