Perth Glory were given a massive fright by the New Zealand Knights before prevailing 1-0 in their Hyundai A-League encounter at Members Equity Stadium on October 6, but how only one goal was scored in this game defies belief!
The chances flowed thick and fast at both ends of the ground, with the Knights pounding away relentlessly at the Perth goal in the second spell, as they sought an equaliser. That they concluded this game without at least a point to show for their efforts was something of a travesty - their performance deserved far greater reward.
That Perth rode their luck cannot be denied, but by the same token, the home team had a goal disallowed for offside, while referee Craig Zetter denied them a clear-cut penalty after a sending-off offence was allowed to go unpunished, much to the despair of the 7309 faithful.
The first ten minutes of the match set the tone for the visitors' display. Where in recent weeks they have been uninspiring, to put it kindly, they came out for this match with a collective resolve to take the game to Perth, and, led by Scot Gemmill, did just that, but only after Michael Turnbull had turned away a stinging twenty-five yard drive from Bobby Despotovski after just sixty-two seconds.
The Knights responded by stringing together a neat move in the fourth minute, featuring Frank Van Eijs, Malik Buari, Richard Johnson and Gemmill, who held the ball up before squaring it into the path of the Ghanain, whose twenty-yarder flashed over the crossbar.
It was only at this point that referee Zetter noticed that Buari was wearing black stockings to keep out the chill of the Perth night air, something which the Knights' lone goalscorer so far this season was feeling a little more than most.
Thus followed the bizarre situation of the referee ordering Buari from the field to remove the offending garment for reasons known only to himself - it's not as if player safety was being endangered at any stage. So why it was done remains a mystery!
Over the course of the next ten minutes, one of Perth's Kiwi trio, Leo Bertos, took the game by the scruff of the neck and shook it violently, but without reward. In the eleventh minute, a scintillating run down the left saw him evade three challenges before setting up Naum Sekulovski.
Turnbull smothered this effort, but could only look on three minutes later as Bertos' free-kick picked out the unmarked Bobby Despotovski. Buari blocked the header with his face, while the ‘keeper was called upon again in the eighteenth minute when Bertos' buccaneering run culminated in a one-two with Stuart Young. The All White's effort was tame.
Young was gifted an opening in the 21st minute when Turnbull badly sliced a clearance, but the striker was unable to direct his effort at an open goal. If the Knights thought their luck was in, the next incident, four minutes later, confirmed it!
Simon Colosimo's ball forward was flicked back towards his own goal by Richard Johnson. Neil Emblen had the ball lined up, then opted to leave it for Turnbull. Not expecting this development, the goalkeeper found himself stranded, and could only look on as the ball bounced against the inside of a post and back into his grateful gloves.
After Noah Hickey had dispossessed a defender and only been denied the game's opening goal by Jamie Harnwell's despairing intervention, Perth came desperately close to achieving the same objective in the 35th minute.
Inevitably, Bertos was involved, another perfectly flighted free-kick picking out Despotovski. But from three yards out, the long-serving striker skied the sphere - by his standards, an unbelievable miss!
Two minutes later, it was Despotovski's turn to play provider, but not before he had fouled Van Eijs, an incident missed by the match officials. As the striker bustled into position, Bertos took over possession and proceeded to run at the Knights' rearguard once more.
A deft touch allowed Despotovski to engineer the space from which his left-footed cross picked out the head of the fast-arriving Young, who met the ball in full flight and guided it wide of Turnbull and in via the inside of the post.
The goal stunned the Knights, and Perth sought to take full advantage. Sekulovski and Mimi Saric linked neatly on the left, their one-two paving the way for the former to let fly.
Turnbull tipped his 43rd minute effort round the post, and was saved by the offside flag two minutes later as Despotovski's close-range effort was ruled out, the opportunity having come about after the goalkeeper had failed to clear his lines adequately.
The visitors began the second spell in strong fashion, an initial surge from Neil Emblen culminating in a rasping twenty-five yarder from Dani Rodrigues which fizzed mere feet over the crossbar.
Perth responded with a swift counter-attack which should have left them with a chance to score a second goal from the penalty spot. Instead, referee Zetter, quite frankly, lost his bottle!
Young sent Despotovski scurrying through the offside trap at a great rate of knots in the 47th minute, and surged into the penalty area. The retreating figure of Sime Kovacevic lunged desperately in an effort to get the ball, but the last defender succeeded only in clipping the legs of the striker and sent him sprawling.
As one, Perth's fans in "The Shed" howled for a penalty, their howls turning to boos as referee Zetter opted for the spirit of the game rather than the letter of the law in allowing play to continue without penalty nor punishment.
Given the Knights had a player sent off in very similar circumstances a week ago, the incident merely served to underline the inconsistent application of the Laws of the Game by those appointed to apply them. Mr Zetter got this one wrong, big time!
Buoyed by their good fortune, the visitors commandeered the game, and were all over Perth like a rash! They created a glut of openings over the course of the remainder of the match, but how they failed to convert even one of them only they can explain! (Although the oft-seen delivery of poor quality final ball
Sean Devine sliced an effort wide after a delightful interchange between Gemmill and Johnson; the last-mentioned smashed a thirty yard drive goalwards in the 54th minute, following a well-worked free-kick with Devine and Gemmill, but Jason Petkovic pulled off a fine full-stretch save to keep his team in front.
Perth's custodian was in action again in the 67th minute, foiling Devine after he had sent Hickey storming down the left. And after Turnbull had denied a deflected twenty-five yarder from Glory's hard-working captain, Jamie Harnwell, Perth's rearguard action stood firm to block piledrivers from Hickey, Gemmill, Johnson and Kovacevic.
The last-mentioned's effort brought a premature conclusion to Bertos' evening - he hobbled off with an injured ankle caused by stopping the defender's drive at point-blank range.
It also inspired Perth to rediscover their attacking instincts. Despotovski was denied by a fine tackle by Emblen twelve minutes from time, while from Saric's corner to the far post, Ante Kovacevic was unable to head the ball home.
Despotovski then put Luka Glavas in on the left, the substitute running at the defence before setting up Colosimo for a drive which careered over the bar. The midfielder came even closer in the 85th minute, just failing to get on the end of a measured low cross from Despotovski after the striker had cleverly evaded two challenges.
Back came the Knights in this grandstand finish, Harnwell requiring treatment after another hot-shot from Hickey left him seeing stars. Seconds later, Johnson and Adam Casey flicked on a long clearance which sent Gemmill into the penalty area. After brilliantly controlling the ball to evade a challenge, he undid all his good work by shooting straight at Petkovic when scoring seemed easier.
Still they pressed, Hickey lashing a deflected drive over the top after Petkovic had punched the ball off Emblen's head. The resulting corner, taken by Johnson, arrived in the goalmouth, and sat up perfectly for Gemmill to hit. He couldn't believe his ill fortune when Colosimo swooped to head off the line.
That sparked a Perth counter-attack, the last downfield surge of the game. And it was Colosimo who led the charge, steaming forward at pace to race into the Knights' half of the field and force a save from Turnbull. The goalkeeper blocked it, and Despotovski, following up, was unable to divert the rebound on target.
Young's first half goal proved suffice for the Western Australians to clinch all three points, however, and keep them on the fringes of the top three placings, although their good fortune certainly got a good going-over before the final whistle.
The Knights, meanwhile, have now lost five matches in succession, and while this was unquestionably their best performance since winning their only game of the campaign in round two, the outcome leaves them well adrift of the play-off spots at the conclusion of the first third of the 2006-7 season.