McBreen Puts Glory Into The Finals

A brace from Perth Glory striker Daniel McBreen in the first 14 minutes and an Andrija Jukic header before half time set up their 3-1 win against Central Coast Mariners at Members Equity Stadium and booked a spot in the A-League top six finals.

McBreen, who has signed for the Mariners for next season, also ended Lawrie McKinna sides top six chances, and although Adam Kwasnik scored a consolation goal in the second half it was the Glory who ran out comprehensive winners.

The home side were forced into three changes to their starting line up from the side that beat Wellington Phoenix last week. Socceroos trio, Tando Velaphi, Jacob Burns and Mile Sterjovski were all out injured, they were replaced by Aleks Vrteski, Scott Neville and Adriano Pellegrino.

Central Coast made two changes to the side that drew 1-1 with the Gold Coast last week with Michael McGlinchey and Matthew Crowell replacing the suspended Nigel Boogaard and Adam Kwasnik, who dropped to the bench.

The temperature at the ground at kick off was over 30 degrees, and it was the Glory who had a perfect start with the lead in the first minute. A long clearance from Glory skipper Chris Coyne looked little danger for Mariners defender Pedj Bojic, but McBreen hassled him, and won the ball and finished low across Danny Vukovic from four-yards.

It was a perfect start for David Mitchell’s side and it got better on 14 minutes when they doubled their lead. Pellegrino’s through ball again looked little danger for the Mariners defence but Neville’s tenacity pressured Andrew Clark into a mistake and the Glory youngster won possession and crossed from the bye-line and found the unmarked McBreen who fired home from close-range.

The Mariners season was on the line and they looked to hit back immediately and Matt Simon’s header five minutes later flashed wide, and on 25 minutes Hutchinson’s corner from the left found Alex Wilkinson whose header was well saved by Vrteski, and McBreen cleared the rebound.

As half time beckoned both sides went close. First on 35 minutes Bojic’s free kick from 25-yards flashed inches past the post, and four minutes later Neville’s cross from the right found Jukic whose goalbound shot from four-yards was blocked by some desperate defending from Chris Doig.

But in injury time it was the Glory who added to their lead. A corner from Todd Howarth on the right picked out Andy Todd on the edge of the box and his first time shot was headed home by Jukic from close-range, the 23-year-old’s first goal of the season.

The Mariners needed a miracle to get out of the game with something and they made a perfect start to the second half, pulling a goal back three minutes in. Chris Porter’s cross from the right picked out former Glory striker Nik Mrdja whose header beat Vrteski but crashed off the post and second half substitute Kwasnik fired home from close-range.

It was all the Mariners now as they looked to salvage their season and on the hour Nicky Travis wasn’t closed down by the Glory defence and his shot from the edge of the box was superbly saved low by Vrteski to his right.

The home fans were getting nervous as the Mariners continued to press, with thoughts of a the 2000 NSL final still fresh in their minds, and when Jukic was caught in possession in the middle of the park by Bojic, his pass found Michael McGlinchey who fired just over.

Both sides cleared the benches and there were chances at both ends late. Mrdja headed wide on 74 minutes for the Mariners and Glory striker Jamie Harnwell’s shot from six-yards was deflected wide.

The victory put the Glory into the end of season A-League finals and Glory Coach David Mitchell was delighted with the performance from his undermanned side. “That’s three wins on the trot now and it was a fantastic performance in the first half,” Mitchell said.

“In the second half we tried to contain them a little bit, but they scored and got a bit of wind in their sails but once we changed it we were comfortable and did very well.”

“I think once we’ve cement ourselves in the six, and we’ll go for fourth spot and if we get it, no one will want to play us that’s for sure.”

“It was an important game for us today and we received great support, and it’s a credit to Tony Sage and the players. He said what do you need to make the squad better and we’ve gone out and targeted certain players.

“I think the depth we now have in the squad is the best it’s been since I’ve been coach,” said Mitchell.

Lawrie McKinna was disappointed after the game. “You can prepare all you want, you can have everyone looking good on the whiteboard but you can’t make basic mistakes like that in the first half.

“We’ve gone from having the best defensive record in the league to shopping goals that are just not good enough,” said McKinna.

Perth Glory - GK Aleks Vrteski, 2 Daniel McBreen (5 Jamie Harnwell 78’), 3 Jamie Coyne, 4 Andy Todd, 6 Chris Coyne, 12 Scott Neville, 14 Steven McGarry, 16 Adriano Pellegrino, 17 Todd Howarth (13 Scott Bulloch 52’), 19 Naum Sekulovski, 23 Andrija Jukic (10 Wayne Srhoj 90’), – Subs not used – RGK Alex Pearson

Yellow Card – Coyne 53’, Todd 76’, Harnwell 89’

Central Coast Mariners - GK Danny Vukovic, 2 Matthew Crowell, 4 Pedj Bojic, 5 Bradley Porter, 7 John Hutchinson (22 Nicky Travis 59’), 9 Nik Mrdja, 14 Michael McGlinchey (25 Mitchell Mallia 81’), 15 Andrew Clark (23 Adam Kwasnik 46’), 17 Chris Doig, 18 Alex Wilkinson, 19 Matt Simon – Subs not used – RGK Andrew Redmayne

Yellow Cards – Bojic 90+4

Referee – Gerard Parsons