Galekovic flourishes in Reds return

Adelaide United coach John Kosmina hailed returning Socceroo gloveman Eugene Galekovic for his miraculous effort at the death of the Reds’ 3-1 win over the Phoenix at Hindmarsh last weekend.

Galekovic was largely untested during the match but denied 18-year-old Tyler Boyd’s 90th minute penalty and subsequent rebound strike at goal with a flying save to his right followed by a reflex stop to the left.

“You want to finish a game on a high and you couldn’t ask for better than that,” Kosmina said.

“The first save was great, the second one was pure reflex and he spread himself like great ‘keepers do.

“I feel sorry for the young boy that missed it but I’m glad that we had Eugene in there because it was a great save,” he said.

Galekovic appeared to limp off during the pre-match warm-up however Kosmina said his captain had been suffering the ill-effects of a longstanding ankle injury after an increased workload with the Socceroos.

“He tweaked it at training yesterday but it’s probably got a little to do with the workload he’s had the last couple of weeks,” Kosmina said.

“If you look at all the blokes that were away with the Socceroos, all of them have complained about various levels of fatigue.

“It’s no different for a goalkeeper, he had a lot of hard work throughout the two games in four days,” he said.

Kosmina was certain his number one gloveman would be back to 100 percent fitness before long now that he’s ‘back in his own bed’ after helping the Socceroos to East Asian Cup finals qualification.

“Another four or five days here at home and I think he’ll be nice and refreshed for the game next Friday,” Kosmina said.