Nine men Glory hold on

Nine men Perth Glory have held on for a one all draw after scoring first at Dairy Farmer's Stadium in a game full of chances this evening.

The bottom two sides have both had problems scoring goals, but from the outset both sides had great chances to add to their goals for column.

Just after the five minute mark the Glory were desperately unlucky to not get a penalty. Fowler cut inside Hughes in the box and there was clear contact between Fowler and the Fury defender as he left his feet. Referee Kris Griffith-Jones believed Hughes got some of the ball, however, and waved play on.

Five minutes later the former Fury captain Fowler was unlucky again. Perth won a free kick in a great position just outside the box and Robbie Fowler's curling free kick over the wall came crashing back off the crossbar with Pasfield frozen.

In the 23rd minute Fowler got the goal that had been coming from him. Baird whipped in a ball from the right and Fowler's header was inch perfect to clip the under side of the bar on its way over the line for his seventh goal of the season. The Glory striker was a long way out but he lifted his header perfectly over Pasfield's despairing dive.

The Fury weren't lying down however, and the Glory's 18-year-old debutant Risdon was forced into a great goal line clearance after Velaphi dropped a cross under heavy pressure from the Fury frontmen.

The Glory promptly went down the other end and only a brilliant Pasfield save stopped Fowler from grabbing his second after a good cutback into the six yard box. Fowler's predatory instincts got him in front of his marker at the near post and good contact on the football, but Pasfield's recovery was brilliant and he somehow held on to defuse what looked like a certain goal.

The chances continued to come into the last minutes of the half. Osama Malik was inches from connecting with a Ufuk Talay free kick with a diving header that would have levelled the score, but his brave effort was thwarted by a last ditch foot by Baird.

With two minutes left in the half the Fury had an even better chance. Daal got himself on the end of a simple back-to-front long ball but he smashed his half volley over without testing Velaphi. It was a good chance and he should have done better.

Somehow halftime came with only the one goal, despite a plethora of chances.

The second half started identically to the first, with Fowler being denied a clear penalty. The Glory front man reacted quickly to get on the end of a poor backpass and was promptly bundled over by the recovering Hughes. The referee was once again not interested.

Moments later the Glory were even less impressed with Griffiths-Jones. Williams skipped around Naum Sekulovski on the right and the Glory man quickly halted William's progress. Griffith-Jones waved Sekulovski his second yellow and he was on his way.

In the immediate aftermath the Fury began to press with real purpose. Malik nodded just over from another good delivery by Talay. Talay himself was the next to go close. His free kick was sneaking inside the near post by Velaphi flew to the rescue to push it wide with his left glove.

The game was beginning to heat up, despite the rain, and the two sides clashed after a mid-air collision between Velaphi and Malik. What happened next did little to soothe the atmosphere. Glory defender Brent Richards kicked the ball away after the whistle had gone and was shown a second yellow card for his efforts.

Perth had half an hour to hang onto their lead with nine men.

The Fury continued to press and first Payne then Williams had shots deflected just wide. The Fury were now queuing up and Perth couldn't get out of their half.

With ten minutes to go the Fury finally cracked it. This time Talay's corner went far post and Hughes was on hand to head past Velaphi in torrential rain.

The Fury continued to press but couldn't find a way past the desperate Glory in the time remaining and it finished one each. The Glory will feel hard done by the referee, but showed real character to hold on for a point. The Fury had plenty of chances but will need to begin to finish them to climb off the bottom.