Miscellaneous Games

Perth Glory v Brisbane Strikers

These statistics were written and researched by Searlais Mullen and Greg Stock

A friendly game was organised between the Perth Glory and the reigning NSL champions Brisbane Strikers in Perth. The match was played as part of both clubs preseason warm up for the upcoming NSL season.

Played : Sunday September 21 1997 Venue : Dorrien Gardens, Perth

Perth Glory
20.Anthony Franken (1.Tom Maras 46'), 3.Craig Naven (2.Vladimir Beretovac), 4.Gavin Wilkinson, 6.Gareth Naven, 7.Scott Miller (8.Paul McVittie 70'), 9.Paul Strudwick, 10.Bobby Despotovski (12.Doug Ithier), 11.Ernie Tapai, 15.Peter Vukmirovic, 16.Sasha Markovski (14.Scott Halpin 46'), 18.Danny Hay
Goals : Halpin 47' Despotovski 67' 2 - 1 Brisbane Strikers
(Lineup Incomplete) 1.Clint Bolton, 2.Glenn Gwynne, 4.Chris Zoricich, 5.Craig Williams, (12.Mark Battistin), 8.Andy Harper, 9.Rod Brown (14. _), 10.Nick Meredith, 11. _ (7.Frank Farina 46'), 15.Andrew Brayshaw, 17.Jeromy Harris (16.Chay Hews), 18.Stephen Laybutt
Goal : Brayshaw 48'

Attendance : approx 3,500 (double header with WA v Singapore)

If the upcoming season looked an unpleasant prospect two weeks ago, it now looks very promising indeed. In the last three games Glory have defeated the current champions, next season's championship favourites and an international team ranked above New Zealand. And on all three occasions they've deserved to win. Obviously the appalling performance against Dianella shocked the team out of their lethargy.

Brisbane arrived at the ground while the second half of the curtain raiser was being played. Amongst their gear was a huge heavy box of XXXX. So that's what they put in their drink bottles. Could also explain their performance.

Glory fielded the same line-up and formation that defeated Adelaide City a week ago. On the bench were Maras, Vlad, Chisel, Scott Halpin and Ithier.

Brisbane, garbed in their rarely seen all green change strip, had a very different team on the park to the one that visited Perth Oval last season. Bolton, Brown, Meredith and Williams were all on, but the new faces included Harper, Laybutt and Zoricich. Player-Coach Frank Farina was on the bench. Missing were the Cranney brothers, Wehrman and Knipe. It has to be said that the Strikers have the worst collection of haircuts imaginable, including four players with no.1s and one with a ridiculous peroxide blonde hair dye. Wimbledon's "crazy gang" of a few years ago were stylish by comparison.

The match was close and hard fought right from the start. The most interesting moment of the opening exchanges summed up the WWTW's afternoon pretty well. Meredith fought hard to get the ball to Glory's by-line, only to slice his cross into the crowd behind the goal. He loudly cursed himself and as a consequence was roundly jeered by nearby supporters (especially from the wet area). Meredith responded with a few choice phrases, which only egged the crowd on. Then, amazingly, the WWTW awarded a corner. The crowd was incensed and Meredith pissed himself laughing. The WWTW's performance didn't improve from there on.

There weren't many chances in the first half, and indeed the tightness of the match strongly resembled that of the home game against Marconi last season. Instead of taking the game to Glory, Brisbane sat back in their own half and defended. They came forward on some occasions, but didn't threaten much. The only shots were speculative ones from Meredith, and to describe them as pathetic would be flattering them. Harper looked the most useful player but his efforts eventually counted for little. For their part Glory were patient and composed, except for the odd occasion when the defence was very sloppy with its passes. Franken had little to do but still managed to swing his foot over a backpass. Lucky it wasn't heading for the net.

Most of Glory's threatening moments came from corners. Brisbane keeper Bolton didn't look very comfortable with the high ball and even dropped a couple of crosses. Hay came closest with a header that just cleared the bar, but Bobby also had a good chance when he jumped in front of the keeper but misdirected his header wide. Overall Glory looked the more incisive of the two teams, and the reason for that was the excellent form of Bobby. He was our most creative player and caused the Brisbane defence terrible headaches. But as the half went on he had to drop back further and further into midfield to collect the ball. The midfield wasn't doing its job.

The first golden chance of the match fell to the Strikers, midway through the first half. Meredith attempted yet another shot from outside the box, but this time it curved and dipped over Franken and struck the bar. The rebound bounced in front of Brown, and with a diving header he hit the post. Only then was it cleared. A very very very lucky escape for Glory.

Just before half time Glory came nearly as close. A bouncing ball fell to Tapai inside the box, and over the heads of the Brisbane defenders he struck a great dipping shot, only for Bolton to brilliantly tip it over the bar. From the resultant corner the ball fell to Tapai outside the box, and he decided to try his luck again. The shot was struck much more fiercely and almost straight at Bolton, but the pace of it took him by surprise and he unconvincingly flapped it around the post. This got some of the crowd chanting "Glory, Glory".

Half time and no score. Neither team had dominated and to go into the break even was an accurate reflection of the run of play. Both teams made substitutions at the interval. For Glory the very disappointing Sasha Markovski was replaced by Scott Halpin, and Franken by Maras. The Strikers took off one of their midfielders and Farina himself was the replacement.

The start of the second half was eventful to say the least. Glory attacked first and a goal was the immediate result. Craig Naven struck a powerful and accurate left foot shot and it was the best Bolton could do to parry it to the side. Halpin was lurking in the goal mouth and with his first touch of the match scored! He knelt on the ground and blessed himself before he was mobbed by his team-mates. One-nil, and we were all feeling mighty pleased.

But before we were finished celebrating the Strikers equalised. It was from either a corner or a free kick, I'm not sure which, but the defenders got mixed up with each other and the ball bounced to the far post to a completely unattended green shirt. The player (one of the skinheads, either Brayshaw or Harper) had an easy job of knocking it into the net. Shades of the idiotic goal Glory conceded against West Adelaide last season.

The match was evenly fought for the next twenty minutes. The next good chance was a brilliant dipping shot from Bobby outside the box. Bolton only just managed to deflect it over the bar. Brisbane had a good opportunity when Brown rather spectacularly went tumbling in the box. His antics put Wilkinson off and Brown was able to get up quickly and steal the ball. He whipped in a shot and Maras saved well. Later the best chance on the match fell to Harper who was left completely free on the far post from a cross. With time to pick his spot he skied his shot over the bar. It seems his finishing hasn't improved since he left Marconi.

The match was in the balance when Glory retook the lead. Bobby chased a pass to the by-line, but in keeping it in play he also over-ran it. A Brisbane defender collected it but Bobby didn't chase him. As he slowly trotted back all those on the sideline shouted at him for being a lazy bastard. But the ball was quickly won back by the midfield and Tapai played a perfect pass over the Brisbane defence. Strudders ran onto it with plenty of space around him. He could have shot but instead he cut the ball back and who was there but Bobby. He thumped the ball past Bolton and ran towards the wet area, pointing his finger at those who had criticised him only moments before. There were no complaints this time!

Glory played out the last twenty minutes comfortably. Miller was taken off and replaced by Chisel. Strudders changed to the left flank. Not long after Craig Naven was swapped for Vlad Beretovac. But it was Glory's fifth substitution that revealed much of the nature of the Strikers in the second half. To put it short, the Strikers were filthy. They hacked and clogged and niggled and pulled and pushed and whinged and complained and retaliated and swore and I think you get the idea. But far more insidious was the number of bad fouls Bobby was subjected to. His marker, Battistin, was responsible for most, but Brisbane's sweeper Gwynne (assuming he was the no.2 on the day) was nothing less than bloodthirsty with his late challenges. The WWTW, who was atrocious for both sides, didn't get out his book for any of these challenges, and some of Battistin's (including an extremely bad one that had the whole crowd shouting) didn't even result in a free kick. The worst however was Farina's, one of several nasty fouls he was responsible for. Bobby had possession of the ball and Farina, from an angle slightly behind him, charged in with a lowered shoulder and struck Bobby in the head-neck area. That did earn a booking but Bobby was holding his neck for five minutes afterwards. Wisely Marocchi took Bobby off soon afterwards, but not before Battistin managed yet another dirty tackle. The extreme number of bad fouls Bobby was subjected to makes one wonder if Brisbane were out there to knacker him for the start of next season. That's how bad it was.

Glory stifled Brisbane over the last twenty minutes, and had the ball fell more kindly for Halpin and others in the penalty box there could have been more goals. When Brown was substituted for Brisbane the little punch they had up front disappeared. Harper, now marked by Wilkinson, never got the ball and in frustration tried to engage his marker in a shoving match. Not something he should try on Brisbane TV. Meredith, in his typical yobbish fashion, got involved in a serious flare-up with Gareth Naven. Naven, who had played a dismal match, was given a pass in midfield, but instead of running onto it and into space, he tried to turn on it and it went past him. Meredith ran onto the ball and Naven was forced to chase him. Just as Meredith off loaded it Naven tried a desperate tackle but didn't even come close. Meredith wasn't pleased and in his inimical fashion tried to make something of it. After a lot of chesting up, which included a few extra players from both sides, the WWTW was able to defuse the situation.

In the end Glory found it easy to shut Brisbane out and claim a victory. It was an excellent performance, in the sense that the team didn't play as well as they could, and direfully lacked an effective right wing-back, but still managed to earn a deserved victory over the NSL champions.

The man of the match was definitely Bobby Despotovski, who was Glory's chief playmaker on the day and scored an excellent goal as well. Wilkinson was the other outstanding player. He snuffed out Brown and then Harper. Wilkinson actually looked better in this match than I've ever seen him before, and that's quite saying something. For Brisbane their only impressive performer was Harper, with the rest working reasonably well together as a team but not standing out as individuals.

Other Glory players who impressed included Chisel (who only got a short run but added an extra dimension), Strudders, Tapai (who was still well below his best), Halpin and surprisingly Tommy Maras. I'd never thought I'd see the day when Tommy would command the penalty box and confidently collect the ball in the air. His performance was nothing less than superb. Let's hope this wasn't a flash in the pan.

Hay and Shack both played well enough, although the former looked a bit out of sorts at times. Craig Naven just isn't the right style of player to play on the right flank. He lacks the pace, vision and general ball skills. He should only play in defence, where he's far more effective. Miller didn't play well on the left flank, but did at times combine well with Strudders in the second half. Gareth Naven put in his worst performance ever. I just wonder if he's lost confidence somehow, as he doesn't even seem to want the ball at times. He's a pale shadow of what he was in the first half of last season. And finally Sasha Markovski didn't do a thing and this time he wasn't being marked by Tobin. The feeling among the supporters (in the wet area at least) is that he isn't good enough. If we sign him we'll have to wait a couple of seasons for him to develop.

The WWTW (whose name I don't know) was outrageously bad. If that's the best the local association can supply then WA has a referee crisis at the moment. Local coaches would agree.

Another good performance and another good result for Glory. We still badly need a right wing-back, but one feels Scott Halpin will adequately fill the vacant striker's position until the club finds a bigger name. Considering that Vinko and Garcia should soon be fit again the team is looking very strong indeed.

A friendly game was organised between the Perth Glory and the reigning NSL champions Brisbane Strikers in Perth. The match was played as part of both clubs preseason warm up for the upcoming NSL season.
Played : Sunday September 21 1997				Venue : Dorrien Gardens, Perth
Perth Glory 20.Anthony Franken (1.Tom Maras 46'), 3.Craig Naven (2.Vladimir Beretovac), 4.Gavin Wilkinson, 6.Gareth Naven, 7.Scott Miller (8.Paul McVittie 70'), 9.Paul Strudwick, 10.Bobby Despotovski (12.Doug Ithier), 11.Ernie Tapai, 15.Peter Vukmirovic, 16.Sasha Markovski (14.Scott Halpin 46'), 18.Danny Hay Goals : Halpin 47' Despotovski 67'	2	-	1	Brisbane Strikers (Lineup Incomplete) 1.Clint Bolton, 2.Glenn Gwynne, 4.Chris Zoricich, 5.Craig Williams, (12.Mark Battistin), 8.Andy Harper, 9.Rod Brown (14. _), 10.Nick Meredith, 11. _ (7.Frank Farina 46'), 15.Andrew Brayshaw, 17.Jeromy Harris (16.Chay Hews), 18.Stephen Laybutt Goal : Brayshaw 48'
Attendance : approx 3,500 (double header with WA v Singapore)
If the upcoming season looked an unpleasant prospect two weeks ago, it now looks very promising indeed. In the last three games Glory have defeated the current champions, next season's championship favourites and an international team ranked above New Zealand. And on all three occasions they've deserved to win. Obviously the appalling performance against Dianella shocked the team out of their lethargy. Brisbane arrived at the ground while the second half of the curtain raiser was being played. Amongst their gear was a huge heavy box of XXXX. So that's what they put in their drink bottles. Could also explain their performance. Glory fielded the same line-up and formation that defeated Adelaide City a week ago. On the bench were Maras, Vlad, Chisel, Scott Halpin and Ithier. Brisbane, garbed in their rarely seen all green change strip, had a very different team on the park to the one that visited Perth Oval last season. Bolton, Brown, Meredith and Williams were all on, but the new faces included Harper, Laybutt and Zoricich. Player-Coach Frank Farina was on the bench. Missing were the Cranney brothers, Wehrman and Knipe. It has to be said that the Strikers have the worst collection of haircuts imaginable, including four players with no.1s and one with a ridiculous peroxide blonde hair dye. Wimbledon's "crazy gang" of a few years ago were stylish by comparison. The match was close and hard fought right from the start. The most interesting moment of the opening exchanges summed up the WWTW's afternoon pretty well. Meredith fought hard to get the ball to Glory's by-line, only to slice his cross into the crowd behind the goal. He loudly cursed himself and as a consequence was roundly jeered by nearby supporters (especially from the wet area). Meredith responded with a few choice phrases, which only egged the crowd on. Then, amazingly, the WWTW awarded a corner. The crowd was incensed and Meredith pissed himself laughing. The WWTW's performance didn't improve from there on. There weren't many chances in the first half, and indeed the tightness of the match strongly resembled that of the home game against Marconi last season. Instead of taking the game to Glory, Brisbane sat back in their own half and defended. They came forward on some occasions, but didn't threaten much. The only shots were speculative ones from Meredith, and to describe them as pathetic would be flattering them. Harper looked the most useful player but his efforts eventually counted for little. For their part Glory were patient and composed, except for the odd occasion when the defence was very sloppy with its passes. Franken had little to do but still managed to swing his foot over a backpass. Lucky it wasn't heading for the net. Most of Glory's threatening moments came from corners. Brisbane keeper Bolton didn't look very comfortable with the high ball and even dropped a couple of crosses. Hay came closest with a header that just cleared the bar, but Bobby also had a good chance when he jumped in front of the keeper but misdirected his header wide. Overall Glory looked the more incisive of the two teams, and the reason for that was the excellent form of Bobby. He was our most creative player and caused the Brisbane defence terrible headaches. But as the half went on he had to drop back further and further into midfield to collect the ball. The midfield wasn't doing its job. The first golden chance of the match fell to the Strikers, midway through the first half. Meredith attempted yet another shot from outside the box, but this time it curved and dipped over Franken and struck the bar. The rebound bounced in front of Brown, and with a diving header he hit the post. Only then was it cleared. A very very very lucky escape for Glory. Just before half time Glory came nearly as close. A bouncing ball fell to Tapai inside the box, and over the heads of the Brisbane defenders he struck a great dipping shot, only for Bolton to brilliantly tip it over the bar. From the resultant corner the ball fell to Tapai outside the box, and he decided to try his luck again. The shot was struck much more fiercely and almost straight at Bolton, but the pace of it took him by surprise and he unconvincingly flapped it around the post. This got some of the crowd chanting "Glory, Glory". Half time and no score. Neither team had dominated and to go into the break even was an accurate reflection of the run of play. Both teams made substitutions at the interval. For Glory the very disappointing Sasha Markovski was replaced by Scott Halpin, and Franken by Maras. The Strikers took off one of their midfielders and Farina himself was the replacement. The start of the second half was eventful to say the least. Glory attacked first and a goal was the immediate result. Craig Naven struck a powerful and accurate left foot shot and it was the best Bolton could do to parry it to the side. Halpin was lurking in the goal mouth and with his first touch of the match scored! He knelt on the ground and blessed himself before he was mobbed by his team-mates. One-nil, and we were all feeling mighty pleased. But before we were finished celebrating the Strikers equalised. It was from either a corner or a free kick, I'm not sure which, but the defenders got mixed up with each other and the ball bounced to the far post to a completely unattended green shirt. The player (one of the skinheads, either Brayshaw or Harper) had an easy job of knocking it into the net. Shades of the idiotic goal Glory conceded against West Adelaide last season. The match was evenly fought for the next twenty minutes. The next good chance was a brilliant dipping shot from Bobby outside the box. Bolton only just managed to deflect it over the bar. Brisbane had a good opportunity when Brown rather spectacularly went tumbling in the box. His antics put Wilkinson off and Brown was able to get up quickly and steal the ball. He whipped in a shot and Maras saved well. Later the best chance on the match fell to Harper who was left completely free on the far post from a cross. With time to pick his spot he skied his shot over the bar. It seems his finishing hasn't improved since he left Marconi. The match was in the balance when Glory retook the lead. Bobby chased a pass to the by-line, but in keeping it in play he also over-ran it. A Brisbane defender collected it but Bobby didn't chase him. As he slowly trotted back all those on the sideline shouted at him for being a lazy bastard. But the ball was quickly won back by the midfield and Tapai played a perfect pass over the Brisbane defence. Strudders ran onto it with plenty of space around him. He could have shot but instead he cut the ball back and who was there but Bobby. He thumped the ball past Bolton and ran towards the wet area, pointing his finger at those who had criticised him only moments before. There were no complaints this time! Glory played out the last twenty minutes comfortably. Miller was taken off and replaced by Chisel. Strudders changed to the left flank. Not long after Craig Naven was swapped for Vlad Beretovac. But it was Glory's fifth substitution that revealed much of the nature of the Strikers in the second half. To put it short, the Strikers were filthy. They hacked and clogged and niggled and pulled and pushed and whinged and complained and retaliated and swore and I think you get the idea. But far more insidious was the number of bad fouls Bobby was subjected to. His marker, Battistin, was responsible for most, but Brisbane's sweeper Gwynne (assuming he was the no.2 on the day) was nothing less than bloodthirsty with his late challenges. The WWTW, who was atrocious for both sides, didn't get out his book for any of these challenges, and some of Battistin's (including an extremely bad one that had the whole crowd shouting) didn't even result in a free kick. The worst however was Farina's, one of several nasty fouls he was responsible for. Bobby had possession of the ball and Farina, from an angle slightly behind him, charged in with a lowered shoulder and struck Bobby in the head-neck area. That did earn a booking but Bobby was holding his neck for five minutes afterwards. Wisely Marocchi took Bobby off soon afterwards, but not before Battistin managed yet another dirty tackle. The extreme number of bad fouls Bobby was subjected to makes one wonder if Brisbane were out there to knacker him for the start of next season. That's how bad it was. Glory stifled Brisbane over the last twenty minutes, and had the ball fell more kindly for Halpin and others in the penalty box there could have been more goals. When Brown was substituted for Brisbane the little punch they had up front disappeared. Harper, now marked by Wilkinson, never got the ball and in frustration tried to engage his marker in a shoving match. Not something he should try on Brisbane TV. Meredith, in his typical yobbish fashion, got involved in a serious flare-up with Gareth Naven. Naven, who had played a dismal match, was given a pass in midfield, but instead of running onto it and into space, he tried to turn on it and it went past him. Meredith ran onto the ball and Naven was forced to chase him. Just as Meredith off loaded it Naven tried a desperate tackle but didn't even come close. Meredith wasn't pleased and in his inimical fashion tried to make something of it. After a lot of chesting up, which included a few extra players from both sides, the WWTW was able to defuse the situation. In the end Glory found it easy to shut Brisbane out and claim a victory. It was an excellent performance, in the sense that the team didn't play as well as they could, and direfully lacked an effective right wing-back, but still managed to earn a deserved victory over the NSL champions. The man of the match was definitely Bobby Despotovski, who was Glory's chief playmaker on the day and scored an excellent goal as well. Wilkinson was the other outstanding player. He snuffed out Brown and then Harper. Wilkinson actually looked better in this match than I've ever seen him before, and that's quite saying something. For Brisbane their only impressive performer was Harper, with the rest working reasonably well together as a team but not standing out as individuals. Other Glory players who impressed included Chisel (who only got a short run but added an extra dimension), Strudders, Tapai (who was still well below his best), Halpin and surprisingly Tommy Maras. I'd never thought I'd see the day when Tommy would command the penalty box and confidently collect the ball in the air. His performance was nothing less than superb. Let's hope this wasn't a flash in the pan. Hay and Shack both played well enough, although the former looked a bit out of sorts at times. Craig Naven just isn't the right style of player to play on the right flank. He lacks the pace, vision and general ball skills. He should only play in defence, where he's far more effective. Miller didn't play well on the left flank, but did at times combine well with Strudders in the second half. Gareth Naven put in his worst performance ever. I just wonder if he's lost confidence somehow, as he doesn't even seem to want the ball at times. He's a pale shadow of what he was in the first half of last season. And finally Sasha Markovski didn't do a thing and this time he wasn't being marked by Tobin. The feeling among the supporters (in the wet area at least) is that he isn't good enough. If we sign him we'll have to wait a couple of seasons for him to develop. The WWTW (whose name I don't know) was outrageously bad. If that's the best the local association can supply then WA has a referee crisis at the moment. Local coaches would agree. Another good performance and another good result for Glory. We still badly need a right wing-back, but one feels Scott Halpin will adequately fill the vacant striker's position until the club finds a bigger name. Considering that Vinko and Garcia should soon be fit again the team is looking very strong indeed.