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As if defeat wasn’t bad enough for Glory in what was skipper Jacob Burns’ 100th game for the club, they lost both William Gallas and Scott Jamieson to injury with the latter’s season expected to be over after rupturing his Achilles tendon.
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| Gallas started the match but didn't last long. |
After the game, coach Alistair Edwards said it was difficult to comprehend coming away from the game with nothing given how well his side played.
“It’s probably the best we’ve played, particularly in the first half an hour,” he said.
“There was a ten minute spell in the first half where they got on top but apart from that it’s probably the best football we’ve played and to come away with nothing from the game and a couple of injuries is just the beauty of our game. It throws some challenges at us but we’ll be right.”
The result was harsh on Glory who were the better side for a lot of the game and they took the lead in the 24th minute.
Maclaren ran on to a superb Jamieson ball that was played in behind the Mariners defence and lobbed Liam Reddy with an exquisite first touch.
You can never get too excited when a goal up against Central Coast though and they generated an equaliser just minutes after Glory lost Gallas to a calf injury.
Following some neat play involving Marcos Flores, the ball dropped kindly for Michael McGlinchey inside the area and he calmly shot past Danny Vukovic.
The home side continued to create the better chances, with Sidnei Sciola in particular putting in some very dangerous crosses from the left wing which caused the Mariners all sorts of problems.
However, the game swung firmly in the visitors’ favour midway through the second half when Jamieson was stretchered off with a ruptured Achilles and, with all of their substitutions used, Glory were forced to play the final 20 minutes with ten men.
To their credit, they coped well with the man disadvantage and Edwards had no regrets about going for a win.
“It was a deliberate decision to go and try to win the game because three points in our home games is what we’re trying to get to,” he said.
“Three is better than one but in the end we didn’t get any and that’s the gamble that didn’t pay off but I thought we deserved at least a point.”
After the game, new Mariners boss Phil Moss was understandably delighted to get a win in his first game in charge after filling the big shoes left by Graham Arnold.
“To be 1-0 down at Perth and come back to win 2-1, it shows just how much character there is and how much belief there is in the squad,” he said.
Moss admitted to tinkering slightly tactics wise due to the extra man and the response of his players to the change was positive enough to turn one point to three.
Gallas watch
Marquee man William Gallas made his first start for Glory and oozed class from kick off as he directed traffic from centre back alongside Michael Thwaite.
The Frenchman looked composed on the ball and was a constant voice in the ear of his team mates as Glory enjoyed a strong start to the game.
The stadium almost erupted 18 minutes when Gallas charged forward from defence and got on the end of a Matthew Davies cross with an acrobatic overhead kick. Unfortunately the effort went just over the crossbar but it still had fans on their feet.
Sadly, “Gallas watch” came to an end after half an hour when the 36 year old limped off with a calf injury. Alistair Edwards played things down afterwards saying that Gallas might sit out for a week but could still be in contention for the trip to Brisbane Roar next Saturday
However, Gallas has a history of calf problems and missed a number of games when he was at Tottenham Hotspur so the Glory medical staff will no doubt monitor him closely during the week.
Jamieson suffers long term injury blow
With Josh Risdon already on the sidelines and now William Gallas picking an injury, Glory’s first choice defence has taken a bit of a battering and it got worse as Scott Jamieson ruptured his Achilles tendon in the second half.
The left back turned awkwardly in a challenge with Matt Simon and immediately went down in agony, with Edwards confirming the injury after the game.
Jamieson had surgery in Perth today and probably won’t play a further part in the season with his outside chances of making the World Cup with the Socceroos also more than likely over.
The loss of a player who has been arguably their best so far this season hits hard and Glory will again have to turn to a youngster with Riley Woodcock set to fill the void next week.
Perth Glory: 1. Daniel VUKOVIC, 4. Cameron EDWARDS, 6. Cameron EDWARDS, 7. Jacob BURNS, 8. Ryo NAGAI, 10. Jamie MACLAREN, 16. Sidnei SCIOLA MORAES, 21. Scott JAMIESON, 23. Michael THWAITE, 24. Matthew DAVIES, 36. William GALLAS.
Subs: 5. Steve PANTELIDIS, 9. Shane SMELTZ, 14. Steven MCGARRY, 17. Chris HAROLD, 18. Jack DUNCAN.
Central Coast Mariners: 12. Liam REDDY, 3. Joshua ROSE, 6. Brent GRIFFITHS, 7 .John HUTCHINSON, 8. Nick MONTGOMERY, 9. Mitch DUKE, 10. Marcos FLORES, 14. Michael MCGLINCHEY, 15. Storm ROUX, 16. Trent SAINSBURY, 19. Matt SIMON.
Subs: 1. Justin PASFIELD, 2. Daniel MCBREEN, 4. Marcel SEIP, 17. Anthony CACERES, 21. Mile STERJOVSKI.