Perth Glory skipped 8 points clear of the chasing pack with just 4 matches remaining following a regulation 2-0 victory over a game Wollongong Wolves side at the Members Equity Stadium tonight.
The local side celebrated the official opening of their new stadium with goals from both their strikers, one in each half.
Not even a 27 minute power interruption could prevent to home side from making it 9 out of 9 at home this season. However it was anything but an inspiring game as both sides got bogged down in midfield for long periods.
The game started with the Wolves trying to spoil the party but despite controlling the play for the first 20 minutes, they only had a speculative shot by Timpano, that nearly caught Petkovic off guard to show for it.
It was as though that the Timpano effort stirred a lethargic Glory into action as less than a minute later a long ball by Hassell caught the Wolves defense off guard and even though Faria managed to lob the ball over Crews it was cleared for an unproductive corner.
Just 2 minutes later it was Despotovski taking a free kick 25 meters out on the right and finding the head of Byrnes, but Crews was alert to it and made a good save at the near post.
At this stage Glory were rampant as in the 24th minute, Bingley won possession in midfield and played a delightful 1-2 with Despotovski before firing wildly across goal with just the keeper to beat.
And then the lights went out. Well after 27 minutes anyway they did and stayed out for a long 27 minutes before all was restored.
The break failed to stop the Glory urge though and after 32 minutes, a superb long ball by Bingley found Byrnes raiding on the left, he took the ball to the by-line before pulling it back into the Wolves box. There Hassell dummied the ball to Despotovski who turned on the proverbial sixpence before firing low and hard into the bottom right hand corner of the net.
Just 7 minutes later and Glory could have scored the most bazaar goal of the season as Crews in attempting a clearance smashed the ball into Despotovski's face and had to make a reflex save to prevent the rebound from scoring.
Just on half time it was great interchange between Byrne's, Hassell and Pondeljak that finished with the latter firing a long cross to the far post and North meeting it on the volley but unfortunately for him he could not keep his shot down and it flew high over the bar.
The 2nd half had barely started when Bingley played Mori in and the strikers goalbound shot was brilliantly tipped over the bar by Crews.
In the 49th minute it was good interchange between Faria and Pondeljak with the latter firing on goal but the shot was again well saved by Crews.
The Wolves keeper was in action again after 52 minutes when following combination play between North and Faria finished with Faria hitting a long cross to the far post and Pondeljak having a diving header that the keeper dealt with.
The big turning point of the match and indeed the most controversial happened in the 62nd minute when a long ball out of the Glory defense appeared to be controlled by Faria using his arm, but with no whistle the midfielder carried on and passed to Despotovski, who crossed low into the Wolves area where Mori met the ball first time and buried beyond the reach of Crews.
From there to the end of the match although the Wolves tried hard there only real goal effort was a 20 meter shot by Hawrysiuk that was comfortably dealt with by Petkovic.
So Glory ground out the victory that leaves them within touching distance of the Premiership and Wolves go home empty handed and with their top 6 aspirations in shreds.