"Your only here for the money, here for the money.." - The Shed 8/11/1998
In the lead up to the game I think everyone expected Perth to give Canberra a hiding, and when Danny Hay headed home a rather soft goal after a Glory corner after only 2 minutes there was a feeling that the floodgates were opening. Canberra however were quite ok for the rest of the first half and did create chances. They were let down by not really being fast enough when they found themselves close to goal, Vinko often being the hero in mopping up. Glory also found it difficult to do anything more and were perhaps quite lucky when Markovski was "brought down" for a penalty which was then well-taken (a rarity at Perth Oval!) Rale Rasic claims he "milked it" but as it was down the other end of the ground it's hard for me to comment. Still if your from the Frank Farina school of fouls (I've finally bought the book!) it was probably fair enough.
The second half saw more end-to-end play. Forgive the lack of details - quite by accident I met list lurker Tim Adams in the members area and my mind strayed from the game a little. Anyhow Glory opened up Canberra's defence more often and were rewarded with 2 more goals. Canberra themselves still created chances and grabbed a consolation at 4-0 down although a defensive error was what really set that one up. It didn't take Glory long to restore the 4 goal lead and with about 15 minutes still to go you expected at least one more but it didn't materialise. The introduction of Vas, whenever that was, certainly introduced a breath of fresh air to the game. His speed compared to that of all the tiring players certainly had an impact.
Franken had a good game replacing Milosevic although he wasn't tested too often. He really didn't have a chance with the one that went in.
..and Jason Roberts was AWOL again ;) , which meant he missed the pleasure of meeting up with Nick Guoth whose probably still on an aeroplane somewhere.
Overall Canberra showed some promise, particularly in the first half. The Glory were possibly a bit flattered by the scoreline. It was with a bit of luck they led 2-0 at HT and were a bit sloppy at times. They'll be going from playing bottom to 2nd next week and will need to adjust or pay the price!