I’ve taken my time to digest the result from last week and compose some thoughts on the surprising amount of Glory news which has come out in the last seven days.
Ripping the band aid off straight away, last Saturday in Launceston wasn’t very pleasant. Shipping six goals again hurts, but it didn’t feel worse than the Newcastle defeat.
I’ve only seen the highlights, but I feel like I can paint a pretty clear picture of how the whole match played out based on those highlights, the stats and the game analysis done by the very knowledgeable James Renton.
Like a lot of our home fixtures, we had more of the possession but couldn’t convert it into goalscoring opportunities. A common theme of our season is when opposing teams sit deep in a block, we can’t break them down.
Possession football is only efficient if you can make good use of it going forward. A single shot on target and a single shot from inside the box is not that.
It also doesn’t work when you concede a goal every 6 minutes and 9 seconds you don’t have the ball. That’s the most damning stat from the loss to Western United and highlights the defensive ineptitude we displayed against one of the top teams in the league. That’s a harsh statement, but there’s no other words for it.
Antonee Burke-Gilroy had an afternoon to forget. Five of the six goals conceded in the 53 minutes he was on the pitch, four of them from our right-hand side of the pitch. Along with Pacifique Niyongabire, they got dominated by Ben Garuccio and Connor Pain.
First goal of the game, Garuccio got past Burke-Gilroy too easily and squared it back to an unmarked Pain in the box. His shot came off Lachie Wales and snuck past Liam Reddy in goal.
Second goal, Darryl Lachman’s clearing header was volleyed first time by Wales into the corner. Niyongabire, or anyone else for that matter, should have been closer to him to prevent the first-time volley or to block the shot entirely.
Third goal, Pain played a pass across the box straight to Dylan Pierias who tapped in from close range. Burke-Gilroy gravitated to Wales, leaving Ciaran Bramwell to track the run of Pain out wide which he was unable to do.
Fourth goal, nice little triangle between Pain, Neil Kilkenny and Garuccio leads to another tap in, this time from Wales to seal his hattrick. Daniel Stynes got caught out by the run of Garuccio and Wales got a free run into the middle for the easiest of his three goals.
The penalty was the final straw. Burke-Gilroy pulled the shirt of Wales as he made a run into the box. Absolutely no need for it, gifted Aleksander Prijovic a goal from the spot on his second attempt after Liam Reddy saved his first one in the 22nd minute.
May as well mention the final nail in the coffin. Substitute Jacob Young took a poor touch in the box after a cross from Western United substitute Nicolas Milanovic. It fell straight at the feet of Dylan Wenzel-Halls, who wasn’t going to miss out on a chance to join in the fun for the home side.
Ruben Zadkovich was scathing in his assessment of the performance in the post-match press conference, and I don’t blame him. I like his honesty, directness, and the fact he’ll call out rubbish when he sees it. This club certainly needs it.
On the contrary, he gave a glowing review of Daryll Lachman. It appears he will be re-signing for next season, and I couldn’t be happier. He’s a great leader and has been one of our best players in a troubled campaign.
Big Daz is set to continue, but we still don’t know who will be managing him in the 2022/23 season. A lot of speculation on this, with some heavy hitters putting their hands up. The two main names at this stage being Sven-Goran Eriksson, former England manager, and ex-Manchester United star Dwight Yorke.
The club has a massive decision to make for next season. Tony Pignata has made it clear he would prefer a homegrown coach, but we know Tony Sage loves a big name. At this point, there’s no obvious candidate for me. If we stick with Zadkovich, I won’t be displeased.
To end on a positive note, Andy Keogh announced his retirement from football. His output has declined in the last few seasons, but he is a player who gave 110% for the Glory every time he wore the purple in his record-breaking stint at the club. It looks like he will continue on at Glory in an off-field role, which again I’m happy with. He genuinely cares for the club and will try to make it better going forward.
Only three games left to go now. Pain, Garuccio, and Wales were the standouts for Western United in the 6-0 smashing. We move on and face Adelaide at Coopers Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Zadkovich promised repercussions for those who let the team down last week, lets see if he delivers on that promise.
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