The extra week of waiting was worth it. Macedonia Park witnessed the third coming of Adam Taggart on Saturday night, and it did not disappoint.
Two goals perfectly encapsulating what he brings to this team. Brilliant positioning in the box, magnificent aerial ability, and a predator’s instinct. There are more qualities in his game, but those three will be the most valuable.
The strange part of it all is that if the Ins and Outs were correct, he wouldn’t have featured against the Victory. He wasn’t included in the squad due to injury, the same one which has reportedly flared up and sees him miss the trip to face Wellington.
He wasn’t the only one. Antonee Burke-Gilroy was listed as unavailable but made his first appearance of the season off the bench like Taggart, and Salim Khelifi started despite also being listed as unavailable with an injury.
Only two changes were made from the previous starting side against Sydney: Jacob Muir made way for Khelifi and David Williams started ahead of Luke Ivanovic, who didn’t make the matchday squad.
For the second week in a row, we got off to a slow start, once again letting the opposition control the possession in the midfield but this time, we were a lot tighter to the Victory players when they got into areas of danger.
When we got comfortable and started to have more of the ball, we made good use of the wide areas and had a short spell where we created a couple of great chances. Most of it stemmed from winning back possession quickly from Tony Popovic’s side, keeping the ball in our half.
Keegan Jelacic should have opened the scoring with our first big chance; a one-two between Khelifi and David Williams opened the space in behind for the Tunisian. Cutting it back toward the penalty spot, Jelacic let it roll across his body, miscuing the shot on his opposite foot well wide of the target.
Johnny Koutroumbis was denied his first Glory goal for the second week running thanks to some good goalkeeping. A Jelacic corner was parried away and sat up for the 24-year-oldwaiting near the far post. His volley was sweetly struck but met with an equally good save from Matt Acton.
Our good play warranted a goal to get us into the lead and no surprise when it did come, it was from the wide right. A sequence of one touch passes from a throw in eventually found its way back to Mustafa Amini. Cutting inside, he laid off the ball for David Williams in the box. Spotting his namesake, he slid it in for the winger who took a touch and fired across the keeper into the far corner.
After a relatively calm and mild tempered first half, the action kicked off five minutes into the second half when Chris Ikonomidis lashed out at Jack Clisby, kicking him in the chest when they were both on the ground. With reason to be frustrated, Clisby shoved for former Glory winger and put a hand to his throat, enough for the referee to bring out the red card.
Ikonomidis initially saw yellow until the VAR intervened and rightfully sent him off for an early shower. Clisby’s red seemed harsh for what seemed like minimal contact, and even though the correct decision was made with Ikonomidis, I can’t fathom how the assistant referee didn’t see the kick when he was standing a few metres away.
The 15 minutes following the red cards saw a couple more chances fall our way; an Amini volley which Acton got down to smartly after punching away a cross and Khelifi hitting the post from a curling effort from the left-hand side.
When he went off with a foot injury, we lost momentum. It looks more serious than the groin injury which kept him out for the last few games. We’re a better side when he’s on the park working his magic. Although he has just the one goal contribution thus far, his influence is unmatched and replacing him in the line-up will be tough.
Not long after his game ended, Victory levelled the contest. A corner from Jake Brimmer was met with an acrobatic effort from Roderick Miranda. His shot took a slight deflection off Josh Brillante and found the net, with the goal being given to the midfielder.
With scores level, Ruben Zadkovich turned to his star signing and brought him into the fray. It took just 10 minutes and two touches for our new striker to make his mark. The substitutes combined to great effect, with Zach Duncan picking out Jacob Dowse on the wing with a lovely through ball. Spotting Taggart in the centre having peeled away from his man, Dowse whipped it into the middle and found him. Leaping high to meet it, he guided it perfectly into the side netting to restore our lead.
It was the same combination who iced the game minutes later. Hunting down the ball, Acton was caught out by Dowse and gave it away in his own penalty area. Forced wide, Dowse was still able to get the ball back into the middle for someone to attack it. Taggart obliged, waiting for the right moment to get ahead of his man and poke it toward goal. Acton got hands to it but couldn’t stop the shot from bouncing into the back of the net.
The woes of Victory continue for another week, currently occupying bottom spot on the table. Bruno Fornaroli had the occasional moment of spark but was kept relatively quiet for the most part. If I had to pick one player from the so called “Glory B-team” who stood out, it would have to be one of the former Glory players in Jason Geria.
The Glory now have 14 from a possible 18 points at home this season. It’s an impressive record which has taken us to seventh in the table. Finding form away from home is the biggest challenge we face in the second half of the season. A few more wins on the board on our travels could make a huge difference come the end of the season.
Our longest trip comes next as we head to New Zealand for a Distance Derby against the inform Phoenix. We’ll be without Clisby, Khelifi and possibly without Taggart. They’ve won three on the trot and sit fourth. Our last away game was poor; a Derby is the perfect game to rectify it and possibly jump into the top six for the first time since October.
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