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Both Perth and Gold Coast United left ME Bank Stadium on Sunday feeling they deserved more from their 2-2 A-League draw, but Glory coach Dave Mitchell is growing tired of his team letting winning positions slip.
The Glory scored two goals inside the first 20 minutes against the league-leading Gold Coast and, despite conceding once early in the second half, looked capable of holding on.
However, two controversial late calls by referee Matthew Breeze helped Shane Smeltz score the equaliser – and accidentally knock out Glory ‘keeper Tando Velaphi.
That led to a delay that Gold Coast coach Miron Bleiberg felt should have made injury time longer, while Mitchell was just disappointed that his team let the goal in.
“We thought it was our free kick, but he then gave it to them,” Mitchell said.
“They took it very quickly and was it a moving ball, or not? I don’t know, but anyway they took it and scored.
“It’s very disappointing. I thought we had held out and the first half was a great performance.
“That first goal changed the psychology a bit and we held off until the last minute again where there were a couple of free kicks that we could have got that we scratched our heads about.”
Glory star Mile Sterjovski was also gutted his team blew the chance to remain undefeated at home, and now must lift on the road against Brisbane and Newcastle the next two weeks.
“We gave the game away,” Sterjovski said. “I thought we dominated most of it, especially in the first half, and I don’t think they came into the game because they played well, we let them back in and that’s very disappointing.
“It’s very frustrating, but hopefully our luck will change and we can work on the last 15 minutes where we struggle. Apart from that there were plenty of positives and we deserved a lot more.”
The draw, Gold Coast’s first in franchise history, keeps them on top of the A-League ladder and, while Bleiberg was disappointed not to have the extra minutes to have a crack at winning the game, he took plenty out of it.
“In the second half we showed the goods and in the long run the boys know that we are good enough if we are (down) 2-0,” he said.
“From the other side it showed that we are not that good to be down like that.
“We aren’t the Gold Coast that everyone is scared of, we have our own weaknesses.”
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