Glory claim another pre-season scalp
Perth Glory continued their strong pre-season form with a 3-0 win over Cockburn City in a friendly match at Spearwood’s Dalmatinac Park last night.
Glory coach Kenny Lowe fielded a strong team in the first of two matches this week, with a game to play against Rockingham City on Sunday.
High-profile recruit Andy Keogh was in the thick of the action again, netting a goal in each half to continue his scoring spree.
Keogh and strike partner Jamie Maclaren both had early chances stopped on the line and Glory had to wait until first-half injury time for the opener, which came from the penalty spot.
Cockburn goalkeeper Dejan Aleksic failed to deal with a long ball and got caught in a tangle with Maclaren before Keogh stepped up to calmly tuck the ball home.
The Republic of Ireland striker was on target again in the 57th minute when he latched onto a through-pass from Nebojsa Marinkovic and wrong-footed a defender before sliding the ball home from close range.
Substitute Brandon O’Neill completed the scoring with his head in the 77th minute.
Cockburn, who finished sixth in the NPL WA this year, were outplayed but far from disgraced.
Lowe was pleased with the run-out ahead of Glory’s FFA Cup round of 16 clash with third-tier Victorian club St Albans Saints next month.
“We’re getting closer to game fitness and we dominated the game obviously,” Lowe said.
“Again we created a load of chances and we probably need to be a little bit more focused and clinical with the opportunities we get, but some of the football was excellent.
“The work ethic was very good so I’m pleased.”
FFA yesterday confirmed Glory’s cup tie with St Albans would be played in Melbourne on September 23.
The venue is yet to be finalised as FFA awaits official lux certificates to ensure lighting is up to the required standard.
NPL WA clubs Bayswater City and Stirling Lions were forced to move their home fixtures in the round of 32 to the WA Athletics Stadium due to inadequate lighting at their regular venues.
The round of 16 will be played over two weeks, with four matches each on September 16 and 23.
The pick of the fixtures is a derby clash between former NSL club Sydney United 58 and A-League glamour side Sydney FC.
