It’s a battle of two sides still searching for their first win in the A-League when the Perth Glory host the Central Coast Mariners. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7pm (AEDT).
Comming off a man of the match performance, Danny De Silva makes his return to the club where he debuted and spent four seasons, and already with a goal to his name in Mariners colours, he will be looking to inflict pain on his former club.
He has been part of a Mariners attack which has threatened but struggled to get the job done across the first two rounds. It was important for them to bounce back last week though, and they did after being belted by rivals Newcastle United in the opening game of the season.
A 5-1 loss is not the way any team wants to start, so to bounce back and secure a 2-2 draw with the Western Sydney Wanderers last week was a solid turnaround in fortunes. They need to set their sights on getting their first win of the season though, and with a failing defence who have already leaked seven goals, it’s going to be easier said than done.
A trip to Perth is among the toughest in the A-League, and this will be their first home game of the season after a tough start on the road.
They went down to the Western Sydney Wanderers 2-1 in the first round, before travelling to Newcastle and slotting a couple of goals to get their first competition point with a 2-2 draw.
It was only a late goal from Adam Taggart which brought them back to the drawn scoreline though. He scored a double last week, while their only goal against the Wanderers was an own goal. That was set up in many respects by Andy Keogh though, with the attacker having a strong start to the season.
Keogh and Taggart appear to be the key men if the Glory are going to run their way past the Mariners, with their sloppy defence a major cause for concern against the explosive duo.
Still, the Mariners need to keep a focus on attack – it seems at times they won’t have the cattle to play the defence required, and that’s where the combination of De Silva and Asdrubal must come into its own.
In team news, the Glory welcome back Alex Grant and Shane Lowry while the Mariners have promoted Trent Buhagiar, Adam Berry and Lachlan Wales at the expense of the suspended Andrew Hoole.
Prediction
This should be a reasonably high-scoring game, but on a tough trip west, the Mariners will come up well short of the mark.
Glory 3 – Mariners 1.
Join The Roar for live coverage of this match from 7pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment below.
Kangajets
Guest
Another enjoyable game in a terrific round of football.
Haydos
Guest
My god the reporter in that 'miss of the season' video is so bad. He doesn't use the right tone at all in describing the play. Listen to any other sport report on tv on any channel to hear how it should be.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thanks for joining me this evening on The Roar for our live coverage of the 2017-18 A-League Season as the Perth Glory secured their first victory over the Central Coast Mariners. Hopefully you enjoyed the call. The A-League will continue next Friday with Round 4. Bye for now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thoughts on the match Roarers?
Scott Pryde
Expert
FULLTIME The Glory go on the attack to end this one, and that'll do us! Perth come back from 1-0 down with goals to Andy Keogh and Adam Taggart to take their first win of the A-League season. Not a great deal wrong with the Mariners performance. They probably deserved a point out of that, but a couple of defensive breakdowns let them down during the second half. Counter-attacks were the order of the day for Perth, the goals coming just 15 minutes apart, the last five from fulltime. The Mariners can take plenty of positives out of it with their dominant first half, but have plenty to work on. Set pieces were poor, to say the least. They simply couldn't land anything even close to goals from their eight corners, and it told on the final scoreboard in a game where one goal was never likely to be enough for victory. Perth Glory 2 Central Coast Mariners 1
Scott Pryde
Expert
90 + 5' Ball straight into the box on a long free kick, but Bingham can't do anything close to controlling his header, the ball going behind for a goal kick. That might be it for the men in yellow. Glory 2 Mariners 1
Scott Pryde
Expert
90 + 5' The Mariners take it away from the goal kick, and pick up a free kick as they come back over halfway, but time is running down. Almost out now. Glory 2 Mariners 1
Scott Pryde
Expert
90 + 4' The Mariners work forward for Rose, but his ball in is cleared by Lowry. A long ball now and Roux with a ball into the box, but it's cleared away - doesn't go far and Rose gets around Castro, but loses control. Goal kick. Glory 2 Mariners 1
Scott Pryde
Expert
90 + 3' Not a great deal happening here. Reddy clears long with his goal kick and the Glory are more than happy to control things and run time off the clock. Glory 2 Mariners 1
Scott Pryde
Expert
90 + 2' The Mariners working it towards the penalty area, but the defence converge and Perth win a free kick out of it. Glory 2 Mariners 1
Scott Pryde
Expert
90 + 1' One of the Glory players down with cramp now as play breaks down. Looks like it's Walker. Glory 2 Mariners 1
Scott Pryde
Expert
90' Oh dear! This could have been the equaliser, but with Reddy off his line, a through ball has just a little bit too much on it for Bingham and beats everyone out of play. 5 minutes of added time. Glory 2 Mariners 1
Scott Pryde
Expert
90' The Mariners with a ball into the box, and it's an ordinary clearance so the danger isn't finished. Rose goes to Hiariej, but he retreats as the defence gets there. Then, it's a clearance with the Mariners going all the way back to Glover. Glory 2 Mariners 1
Scott Pryde
Expert
89' Liam Rose is the man to take the free kick for the Mariners, but it's snuffed out by the Glory defence, a header sending it away. Play then breaks down and the Mariners win a throw-in. Glory 2 Mariners 1
Scott Pryde
Expert
89' The Mariners look to go over the top this time and Hiariej is taken out. Free kick in a dangerous position for the Central Coast. Glory 2 Mariners 1
Scott Pryde
Expert
88' A through ball is cut out this time, and the Mariners will lose control as the ball comes back to halfway through Castro. Keogh now tries to run onto a ball over the top, but is caught in an offside position. Glory 2 Mariners 1
Scott Pryde
Expert
87' The Mariners have no choice but to send men forward and try to find the goal now. They win a throw-in, but will send it all the way back to halfway and build from there. Glory 2 Mariners 1
Scott Pryde
Expert
85' GOAL GLORY! ADAM TAGGART The Glory retreating back behind halfway. A ball goes over the top to Taggart now and Glover is way, way out of the goals. The flag stays down, and Taggart controls it nicely, then sends a long shot past Glover! The Glory take the lead. We are checking for offside, but he was on! The goal will stand and the Mariners, despite looking the better of the two sides for most of the 85 minutes, will now need to play catch up in the final five minutes. Glory 2 Mariners 1
Scott Pryde
Expert
84' The Mariners working it now, but play breaks down and it'll go all the way back to Reddy. Now the Glory go forward again. Keogh goes to Castro and he hits a volley from outside the box, but Glover comes up with a save. Glory 1 Mariners 1
Scott Pryde
Expert
83' The Mariners again building an attack, but they turn it over and that will allow Perth to mount a counter attack. Brimmer's ball forward goes to Glover though. Glory 1 Mariners 1