If there was a perfect way to conclude the Glory’s worst season to date, it was the outcome we saw last Wednesday: a win at home against the reigning champions and the team who just won back-to-back Premiers Plates.
It’s hard to believe half of our wins this season came against the top two sides in the league. The competition is tight and fierce; what separates the best teams from the rest is consistency and for the Glory, there has been no consistency.
The overarching themes of this season have been COVID and injuries. COVID in the first few months and then injuries in the back half when games were coming thick and fast, left right and centre.
We only managed four games until COVID struck. Six weeks passed before we returned to action, essentially having completed a mini pre-season to regain the match fitness lost due to being in isolation.
The difference between the start and the end of the season is staggering. In the first nine weeks, we played a total of six games. In the final nine weeks, we played 15. Incredibly, the Glory were the first team to complete their full 26 fixtures in the regular season.
The fixture pileup helped contribute to an injury pileup. Daniel Sturridge and Brad Jones missed most of the season, Luke Bodnar as well. Brandon O’Neill missed the second half of the season, and a lot of other players were absent for many games at some point in time.
The club was dealt a bad hand, but they didn’t play it very well. Look at the job Wellington have done. Their travel burden was worse than ours, but they’re getting ready to play finals and we’re prepping for an Australia Cup play-off match against Newcastle.
Once again there has been drama off the field which has done the club no favours. Richard Garcia’s exit was far from amicable and Tony Sage’s comments on fan criticism are just two examples that spring to mind.
If there has been a positive, it’s been the young players who’ve gotten a chance at the top level to show what they’ve got, and they certainly put on a good showing against a very strong Melbourne City side.
Joseph Forde has gotten more comfortable and confident with each game he’s played. He was given the difficult task of marking Andrew Nabbout on City’s right and did very well in dealing with his sudden changes of pace and direction.
He’s been getting on the front foot more often when we have the ball. He isn’t afraid to be aggressive and take people on. I like that. The one occasion he was hesitant and went back, his pass missed Osama Malik and Jamie Maclaren nearly took full advantage. His shot bouncing off the post and across the face of goal.
Jacob Muir had another good game too. The whole defence played very well. Against a side known for pressing teams high and putting the squeeze on, they were all able to find an outlet on most occasions to deny City any chance of quickly breaking with their dangerous front three.
City had 25 shots on goal but only four on target. I felt we did great at keeping them at bay. On the few occasions they got good looks at our goal, they missed the target or Liam Reddy was there to make the save.
He was on his toes immediately when Maclaren got a look at goal within 30 seconds. Played through by Nabbout, the Golden Boot winner fired across goal with little venom, allowing Reddy to get low to his right and palm it away to Josh Rawlins.
His heroics kept the game in our favour heading into the break. Just before the interval, a corner from Scott Jamieson found the head of Rostyn Griffiths. Full stretch to his right, he made a brilliant scooping save to clear the ball away from goal.
The man who got us into that position was Callum Timmins, doing so in the 5th minute against the run of play. Antonee Burke-Gilroy had a 1v1 with Jamieson and tried to beat him for pace. Unsuccessful, he turned back and laid it off for Timmins. His long-range strike curled over the head of Thomas Glover into the far corner.
For the magnificent second, he received a pass from Malik in the centre circle. With no one around, he ran with the ball and drilled a shot low from distance. Thomas Glover got hands to the ball put couldn’t stop it getting past him and rolling slowly into the net. It was the first and only Glory goal scored at the Shed end this season.
City had class littered in their lineup but failed to unlock the Glory’s stubborn defence. Mathew Leckie and Marco Tilio were the most threatening of City’s forwards while Maclaren had a rare off day leading the line.
Timmins took his early chance and with a bit of fortune, we got the second goal and held on for a memorable 2-0 win. The first for Ruben Zadkovich and the first at HBF Park for the year. This season has been very tough, but it was good to end on a positive note heading into a crucial off season.
There have been mixed signs already and we’re less than a week in. HBF Park renovations will force the Glory to find a temporary home ground for a while, but recruitment seems to be heading in the right direction. Patrick Wood, Rory Jordan and Stefan Colakovski look set to join the club and possibly Jay O’Shea too. Subway have joined as a major sponsor, injecting much needed funds into the club. We’ll have to wait and see if the ownership changes and of course the decision on who will coach the side next season.
As Andy Keogh said in his final post-game interview, watch this space. I look forward to seeing how our squad shapes for next season and what the future holds for the club. We finished on a high, I’m optimistic we can keep it rolling. Enjoy the off season, and let’s come back stronger than ever in 2022/23.
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