Perth Glory have cruelly been denied full points by a late Central Coast Mariners goal in Perth tonight.
The Western Australian club, fresh from a week off, were up and about for most of the match after taking an early lead through Josh Mitchell but their winning chance was snuffed out by an 87th minute Patrick Zwaanswijk header.
A-League Week 18Perth Glory: 1 (Josh Mitchell 4') Central Coast Mariners: 1 (Patrick Zwaanswijk 87')
Venue: nib Stadium, Perth Crowd:approx. 7,000 Referee: Gerard Parsons Yellow cards:PG - Robbie Fowler 32' CCM - nil
GOAL The Glory kicked things off beautifully in just the 4th minute when Josh Mitchell was able to loop Robbie Fowler's corner in over Mathew Ryan with a clever flicked volley from the front post to give his side an early lead.
Perth were looking dangerous and went close when Adriano Pellegrino let rip from outside the area in the 18th minute. There seemed to be plenty more confidence about the players as they were creating plenty of scoring opportunities, one which Fowler missed with his head after a good build-up about seven minutes later.
Mariners forward Matt Simon had a golden chance to equalize in the 27th minute when he was in on goal but his one-on-one with Tando Velaphi was skewed horribly wide in what was a huge let off for the home side.
The Mariners injected themselves into the contest as the half went on, wrestling possession off the Mariners midfielders, but they couldn't translate that onto the scoreboard before Gerard Parsons blew the half-time whistle.
Five minutes into the second term, Perth should have been two to the good when Pellegrino whipped in a dipping cross from the right flank but Fowler's header from close range was inches off the mark, flying just over the crossbar.
Anthony Skorich should have finished the game in the 72nd minute when Fowler cleverly let a ball run through his legs and into the path of the youngster but his toe-poke ahead of an advancing Ryan was wide of the mark as the Mariners somehow remained in the contest.
The Glory were on the march and looked like a second goal would definitely come but unfortunately a late leveler from the Mariners denied them a victory. GOALMichael McGlinchey whipped around his opponent down the right before playing a teasing cross into the area which was met by a strong challenge by Mariners forward Daniel McBreen on Josh Risdon. The ball bobbled up into the path of central defender Patrick Zwaanswijk who headed home, much to the dismay of the Glory players and coaching staff who believe their player should have been awarded a foul.
However, the goal stood and despite a late flurry from Perth the match ended in a 1-1 draw which moved the Mariners to equal points with Gold Coast United as the Glory remained in 10th position on the table.
Starting Line-Ups
PG Tando Velaphi (gk), Josh Mitchell, Jamie Coyne, Jamie Harnwell, Robbie Fowler, Scott Neville (Amphlett 20'), Steven McGarry, Howard Fondyke, Adriano Pellegrino, Anthony Skorich (Jelic 80'), Joshua Risdon
Subs - Ryan Pearson (gk), Tommy Amphlett (20'), Branko Jelic (80'), Andrija Jukic
CCM Mathew Ryan (gk), Josh Rose, Pedj Bojic, Patrick Zwaanswijk, Rostyn Griffiths, Oliver Bozanic (Doig 77'), Michael McGlinchey, Alex Wilkinson, Matt Simon, Mustafa Amini (Perez 52'), Adam Kwasnik (McBreen 52')
Subs - Paul Henderson (gk), Daniel McBreen (52'), Patricio Perez (52'), Chris Doig (77')
