It will go down as one of the lowest attended matches in A-League history. The young players promoted to the first team would have played in front of bigger crowds in the National Premier League (NPL).
An agreement couldn’t be reached to adjust some fixtures, that’s okay. It is what it is, we dealt with it. Just like we’re dealing with a growing injury crisis.
I didn’t think it could get much worse. Somehow, I was wrong. First it was Trent Ostler, the man who had recovered from two knee reconstructions.
This time the injury was to his shoulder. Dislocated, subbed out in the first half, out for the rest of the season. Really unfortunate after only playing a handful of games.
Then Jack Clisby went down. A consistent starter for most of the season, he tore his MCL in a tackle which earned him a yellow. Also out for the rest of the season.
They join Adrian Sardinero, Kosuke Ota, Brandon O’Neill, Brad Jones, and Luke Bodnar on the list of players we won’t see until next season, or in a Glory shirt again.
Two injuries and a fourth loss in a row adds to the misery, but at least we showed improvement and some fight from the horror show against Newcastle.
We were a lot more stable playing with a back five, even though it contained debutant Jacob Muir and fellow NPL callup Aiden Coyne.
Muir seems to have a good head on young shoulders, looking composed and in control alongside Darryl Lachman and his NPL teammate.
I still have doubts about Coyne. He had an alright game, but I don’t feel confident when he is in possession. Muir and especially Lachman are a lot more composed on the ball.
Giving game time to Muir and Coyne is great, but it makes me wonder what is going on with our other two centre backs.
Jonathan Aspropotamitis hasn’t featured in a matchday squad since March 30 but isn’t included on the injured list the club posted on its website.
January recruit Darko Stanojevic also hasn’t been seen for a while. Tony Sage said he was injured in his Facebook post, but he is also absent from the injured list on the website.
I am very happy we have gotten updates on what injuries the players have and when they’ll be back; there is room for improvement though and I would love some answers on their current predicaments.
Back to the Wellington game, our setup behind the ball was pretty good. We did not give space for the likes of Reno Piscopo and Gael Sandoval to work their magic and create a lot of scoring opportunities.
I felt they were lucky to get on the scoresheet. Just after half time, a Piscopo cross bounced off James McGarry and fell fortuitously to Sandoval. His shot took a slight deflection off one of our defenders and squeezed past Reddy in his 400th game.
The effort and intensity were good to see. We needed a response after those two things were lacking against the Jets, I’m thankful we got it against the Phoenix.
Up front, we’re still falling a little bit short. Ostler started with Joshua Anasmo as a strike partnership, and it was the latter who got the best opportunities.
He nearly got one on one with Oli Sail in the first half and came very close to getting on the end of a very good ball into the box by Clisby.
Fellow attacker Jayden Gorman came on for Ostler in the 35th minute, looking better in his second appearance. I like his intent off the ball, not afraid of getting stuck in. Must be a number 88 thing.
He created one of our best chances in the second half. He won an aerial dual and played a well weighted through ball to Anasmo. He got the ball back, took on a defender and put a dangerous ball into the area, narrowly put wide by Mitch Oxborrow on the stretch.
Quick thoughts on our other debutant, midfielder Chris Donnell. He looks very promising and given our attacking options in midfield are limited to Daniel Stynes and to an extent Giordano Colli, I’m surprised we haven’t seen him sooner.
Second worst goal difference in the league, no worries for Wellington as they sit fifth with games in hand on Adelaide, Macarthur, and Sydney. James McGarry was good on the left and Nicholas Pennington was solid in the midfield with Sandoval. Spare a thought for substitute Riley Bidois, who was on the pitch for less than 20 seconds and didn’t get a touch.
More injuries and another loss were tough to take, the silver lining was a much stronger performance from the team. Our tough schedule continues on the weekend as we face a Western United side who’ve had a week off since losing 4-1 to Wellington. Their form has been shaky recently, but they’ll be out to correct that in the run home. Could be a long afternoon ahead Glory fans.
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There was far more people watching Perth Glory U21’s V’s Armadale last night At Crazy Domain’s Stadium, than there was at the Perth Glory V’s Wellington game.