Perth Glory geared up for their maiden A-League finals assault with a routine 2-0 triumph over Brisbane Roar at ME Bank Stadium on Saturday.

Goals to defender Scott Neville and substitute Scott Bulloch sank the Roar but the result meant little for Perth, who were denied the chance to play for fourth spot and a home final following Wellington’s win over Central Coast on Friday night.

The Glory, who finished fifth, face Wellington in a cut-throat semi-final next Sunday at Westpac Stadium, where the Phoenix haven’t lost since October 2008.

Brisbane, meanwhile, have the entire off-season to do some much-needed soul-searching and recruiting following a campaign that yielded just eight wins and six draws from 27 matches.

The Glory entered the match missing a host of stars, with Jacob Burns (hamstring), Mile Sterjovski (back), Chris Coyne (thigh) and Victor Sikora (hip) all out injured.

They started brightly and a mistake from Brisbane goalkeeper Matthew Ham, who endured a nightmare afternoon, led to the first goal in the ninth minute.

Ham charged off his line but misread Todd Howarth’s cross from the right, crashing into his own player as the ball sailed over his head and to the back post, where Neville was on hand to poke the ball into an open net.

The Glory continued to press and created a flurry of promising chances in the first half but were denied time and again by the offside flag.

Ham was almost left red faced again early in the second half when he was caught in no-man’s land as Jamie Harnwell unleashed a clever lob from the edge of the box, which only just sailed over the crossbar.

Reinaldo and Henrique were combining well for Brisbane but the Roar lacked the finishing touch, with Glory custodian Tando Velaphi confidently blunting several attacks.

Scoring machine Daniel McBreen thought he posted his sixth goal in as many games for Perth when he slotted home a beauty in the 56th minute but he was offside.

The result was put to bed by Bullock in the 73rd minute when he sneaked into the penalty area and drilled home a cross that somehow made it over a pack of players in the box.

“I thought the effort was there,” Brisbane coach Ange Postecoglou said after the match.

“I don’t think it was a matter of motivation or effort, we just didn’t have the quality in the right areas to capitalise on the possession we had and the chances we created.

“We are just lacking that quality in the front third.

“We just need some experience in the team, that’s all.”

Glory coach Dave Mitchell admitted it was hard to motivate the players with their ladder position already sealed.

“People have paid to come watch you so we addressed the players before and said it’s important we try to win the game as best we can and put the effort in,” Mitchell said.

“It was hard to get them up for it but we’re professionals and that’s what we do.”

© AAP 2012

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