21/12/02 Perth Glory |
Breakthrough Goal for
Roche Shares the Points
The Brisbane Strikers' three match unbeaten streak was extended to four at
Ballymore last night, but Perth Glory's proud record of never having been beaten
in Brisbane remained intact as the two teams fought out an absorbing 1-1 draw.
A goal on either side of the break to Glory's Bobby Despotovski and the
Strikers' Anthony Roche ensured that honours were evenly shared in front of a
boisterous and appreciative crowd.
With the Strikers running a Christmas giveaway promotion and free entry for
children, a far healthier turnout than the one which saw the home side beat
South Melbourne a fortnight ago settled in to watch them try to continue a
mid-season recovery that had seen them take seven points from their last three
games.
But the Glory, occupying second position on the ladder, were never going to be
anything but a stubborn stumbling block to the home side's ambitions of taking
another three points. Perth came out obviously intent on a win and did most of
the pressing in the first five minutes or so, but it was the Strikers who broke
free for the first shot on goal when a David Pilic effort was deflected for a
corner in the fourth minute.
After absorbing more early pressure the home team began to take the ascendancy.
In the tenth minute Anthony Roche worked the ball out to the right flank before
cutting inside and sending a dangerous, curling cross with his left foot into
the heart of the Perth penalty area. Fernando Rech, arriving at pace, leaped
high but was unable to get his head to the ball with only the goalkeeper to
beat.
Two minutes later there was a deft interchange of passes down the left wing
between left back Shane Stefanutto and Joshua Rose, who had earned his first
starting role for some time and was putting in a lively and imaginative display.
Rose was put into the clear, running towards the by-line near the left-hand edge
of the penalty area. Perth's goalkeeper, Jason Petkovic, seemed unsure whether
to come out and narrow Rose's angle or stay on his line so as to cut out a
square pass to Anthony Roche, who was arriving at the far post. Rose probably
took the wrong option, electing to shoot, but blasted it over the bar.
But just when the home side seemed to be getting on top, a manic moment from
centre-back Jon McKain put them on the back foot. Only McKain will know exactly
what he was trying to do when a long clearance out of the Perth defence floated
down to McKain's right foot near the half-way line. Instead of killing the ball,
McKain appeared to attempt a flicked pass along his square backline. However, he
succeeded only in turning it behind him straight into the path of Perth's deadly
marksman Damian Mori, who had been following the clearance.
Mori needed no invitation to pounce on the ball and outpace the Strikers'
covering defenders to race into the Strikers penalty area. Mori drew goalkeeper
Jason Kearton off his line and, instead of shooting, spread the ball to his
right where his striking partner Bobby Despotovski had arrived in support.
Despotovski was left with a simple tap-in for Perth to take the lead, and he
made no mistake. McKain's head-in-hands reaction left no doubt as to how he felt
about his part in the goal, and one can only hope for his sake that no-one from
Werder Bremen was watching the game at this point.
The home side, faced with the familiar scenario this season of a deficit at
home, responded well. With skipper Stuart McLaren playing an outstanding role in
midfield, Stefanutto charging up and down the left wing, and Peter Grierson also
co-orchestrating attacks with McLaren, the quality of their football for the
rest of the half was excellent. Perth spent long periods under the hammer as the
Strikers poured forward, and the visitors found it difficult to create anything
threatening themselves.
Only two minutes after Mori's goal Brisbane's right full-back Adam Webber cut in
from an overlapping run and fired a low left-footed drive which Petkovic did
well to turn around his post. But probably the best chance of the half for the
home team came from an outswinging corner in the thirty-fifth minute by Peter
Grierson which found Fernando Rech unmarked around eight metres out. The
Brazilian produced a strong header which flashed wide of Petkovic's right hand
upright as the home supporters groaned in disbelief at the miss.
A few minutes later the Strikers were almost punished for wasting this
opportunity when a mix-up at the back allowed Mori to swing his right foot at
the ball on the turn, but his shot went harmlessly wide and another effort from
Faria a few minutes later met a similar fate. But these rather ineffectual
efforts from Perth were, in truth, their best in a half in which they were
outplayed and did not look like a side with championship aspirations.
Nevertheless, they went into the break with their gift-wrapped lead intact.
The second half began in much the same vein, with the Strikers forcing the pace
and Perth looking to hit them on the break. But Mori and Despotovski continued
to cause the occasional problem with their darting running and ability to find
each other with passes, and in the fifty-ninth minute Mori probably should have
done better after breaking free of a pack of pursuing Brisbane defenders. Then,
with Kearton's goal at his mercy, the normally accurate finisher blasted into
regions more often associated at Ballymore in recent years with the kicking of
John Eales. Once again, the spectators were treated to the sight of a player
holding his head in his hands.
It was to prove a costly miss. Only a minute later, almost immediately after
Strikers supporters had finished their now traditional Christmas rendition of
"The Twelve Days of Christmas", using the name "Fernando"
for each day, the Brazilian answered their call in combining cleverly with Shane
Stefanutto down the left. Fernando collected a return pass from the
irrepressible fullback and raced into the Perth box, firing a low shot which
Petkovic could only parry. This time, though, the rebound fell to Anthony Roche
who got his just reward for tirelessly leading the Brisbane forward line, being
left with a tap-in similar to Despotovski's in the first half. Roche also made
no mistake, netting his first goal at home and his second this season against
Perth.
It seemed that the goal stung Perth into better things. Having looked
second-best up to that point, the visitors upped their intensity and began to
take the game to the Strikers, forcing the home team to defend doggedly for much
of the rest of the game. Coaches John Kosmina and Mitch D'Avray went to their
respective benches, with Perth's Brad Hassell being replaced by Nick Mrdja as
Perth chased the three points. Meanwhile, Kosmina replaced David Pilic
with Richie Alagich and then Rose, who had played his heart out, with Lawrence
Drake.
Perth were looking most dangerous down their left wing and only a desperate
sliding clearance by Stefanutto near the by-line in the seventy-sixth minute
kept Mori out after a cross from Faria had skidded across the heads of both
defenders and attackers before falling to Mori. Shortly afterwards, Perth had an
excellent chance to clinch the game when a cross from the right found
Despotovski on the end of it. The Perth striker caused home supporters' hearts
to skip a beat when he connected beautifully with a bicycle kick only to fire it
straight into the midriff of Kearton for the relieved keeper to make a save.
Now it was the Brisbane Strikers who were under the hammer, but they managed an
attacking foray in the eighty-third minute which finished with Grierson
unleashing a fiercely-struck shot which had Petkovic beaten but flew narrowly
over the bar.
With only three minutes left, however, Perth nearly stole it. Gary Faria, having
ghosted in from his usual position wide on the left, got in behind the Strikers'
back four and on to the end of a high-bouncing, inswinging ball curled with the
left foot by a Perth attacker from the right wing. Faria met the ball with his
head and placed it wide of the advancing Kearton, but unfortunately for the
diminutive winger he also placed it well wide of Kearton's left post.
The home side, however, was not quite finished. Two minutes into injury time the
Strikers were awarded a free kick a few metres out from the byline just in from
the right corner flag. Brisbane's big men poured into the box for the set piece
which was taken by Alagich and flighted beautifully across the crowded goalmouth
and onto the head of a Strikers player (probably McKain) who met it perfectly
and nodded it down towards the goal. With the home fans off their seats in
anticipation of a bulging net, a Perth defender cleared the goal-bound ball just
a metre or two from his goal line, thereby ensuring the points were shared.
It was probably a fair result for a hard-fought match played in a fair spirit.
Only Mrdja succeeded in significantly testing the patience of the referee,
gaining surely one of the silliest yellow cards it is possible to get when
disputing a decision to award the home side a goal kick.
For the Strikers, two points dropped at home just as they were beginning to get
some winning momentum going, might at first seem like an opportunity lost. But
Perth will probably take full points from some teams currently above the
Strikers on the NSL table, so the point gained might yet come in very handy for
Brisbane. Perth, on the other hand, will probably be pleased to journey back
across the Nullarbor with a point from an encounter with the only team to have
beaten them in Perth in a season and a half.
Brisbane Strikers 1 (Roche, 60) v Perth Glory 1 (Despotovski, 14)
Strikers' MOM: A tough call, with outstanding efforts from Stefanutto,
Grierson, Roche and Rose, but we'll give it again to Stuart McLaren, whose
distribution from the heart of midfield and committed defending were both
excellent and inspirational.
Match-turning moment: Mori's embarrassing miss in the fifty-ninth minute.
A minute later, instead of his team being 2-0 up, it was 1-1.