Report by Aisling Lawless

The crowd at Intiga Stadium was treated to a nail-biting finish after a 10-goal extravaganza between Perth Glory and Cockburn City on Saturday afternoon.

The 5-5 final score was an accurate reflection of the tightly contested battle, in which both teams relinquished two-goal leads, keeping them at equal footing on the NPL WA table.

Cockburn City coach Marc Anthony “had a go” at his players at half time, but said he was pleased with his team’s spirit in fighting back for a well deserved draw.

“We are a young side and the character to come back was really pleasing to myself, and I’m sure the people here watching the game would have been happy with what they saw.”

Glory captain Blamo Qua Qua was disappointed they didn’t come away with the win, but said he’s happy with the way the team is improving each game.

“That’s football you know, it doesn’t always go your way, and I thought we played well despite switching off in the second half, though we still have a lot to work on,” he said.

Cockburn displayed their physicality early in the match and created a two-goal lead thanks to goals in the 26th and 32nd minutes.

Feisal Zaw showed great paced down the right wing, driving towards the penalty area before cutting back to shoot into the far left side of the goal.

Zaw then set up Julian Teles with a neat header after darting around Glory defender Hanafi Ghazali with some nifty step overs.

Glory kept their composure as they fought back, helped along with some skilful saves by Fraser Greenwood, and entered the scoreboard in the 39th minute with a goal from Harry O’Brien.

Qua Qua’s training with the A-League side looked to have paid off as he dominated the midfield, forcing turnovers and creating attacking plays.

Then on the stroke of the halftime whistle Rocco Pizzata equalised with a shot from 25 yards out, sending the ball under keeper Dejan Aleksic into the bottom left corner.

The teams went into to the changing rooms on equal terms, but after the restart Glory seemed to be the more promising side.
 
Their passing play through the centre created problems for Cockburn, who found it a challenge to close an organised Glory down.

Glory’s pressure soon paid off, hitting the jackpot with two quick succession goals in the 51st and 54th minutes, to establish a seemingly comfortable lead.
 
After a skilful build up from the back Bor Bor Sambindi cut inside the box to score, helped along by a deflection off a Cockburn defender, which sent keeper Aleksic the wrong way.

Soon after, Glory’s long ball into the box drew Aleksic out - an error in judgement saw it sail over him, giving O’Brien the chance to send the ball into the empty net.

Cockburn seemed sluggish after going two behind and relied on hopeful long passes across the field to bring Zaw into play and gain structure going forward.

But in the 69th minute substitute Papa Kpatar helped narrow Glory’s lead when he crossed the ball to teammate Jonty Turner, who coolly slotted it into the goal, untroubled by the Glory defence.

Glory quickly hit back and regained their two goal lead after Jacob Collard intercepted the ball on the halfway line in the 73rd minute and chipped it over to Qua Qua, amid calls of offside from the Cockburn crowd.

Qua Qua then unselfishly passed across to Maclaren for an easy tap in.

The game ended with a thrilling final quarter leaving a shocked Glory hanging onto the draw by a thread.

Cockburn showed fantastic character in the twilight of the match, scoring two goals within five minutes, showing they wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less than a win.

Kpatar brought the score to 5-4, executing a half volley past the keeper in the 82nd minute from a Ryan Haslett corner.

Cockburn peppered the goal hunting an equaliser, forcing Greenwood to pull off a talented double save in the 86th minute.

Their persistence paid off a minute later when Devon Gibson crossed the ball to Carroll, who performed a well-timed jumping header to send the ball sailing past Greenwood.

The last five minutes of the match resulted in a flurry of chances from both sides as they attempted to claim the three points.

Glory coach Scott Miller was disgusted they gave 5 goals away.

“When we got to 5-3 we stopped still and Cockburn came right over the top of us and probably looked more likely to score their sixth,” he said.

“Again, every week we are going to be challenged by big bodies, but we’ve got to learn now, it’s a man’s game and you’ve got to be able to hold leads.”

Perth Glory 5 (Rocco Pizzata 45 + 4’, Harry O’Brien 39’ 54’, Bor Bor Sambindi 51’, Jamie Maclaren 73’)
Cockburn City 5 (Feisal Zaw 26’, Julian Teles 32’, Jonty Turner 69’, Papa Kpatar 82’, Alan Carroll 87’)
Saturday 12 April, 2014
Intiga Stadium, Inglewood
Kick-off: 3.00pm
Referee: Mathew Cheeseman
Assistant referees: Nico Hoyle, Jennifer Wood
Crowd: Appx 250

Perth Glory: 1. Fraser GREENWOOD (gk), 2. Josh TUCKER 3. Rocco PIZZATA, 5. Scott Robertson, 6.Blamo QUA QUA (c), 7. Riley WOODCOCK, 8. Jacob COLLARD, 9. Joseph KNOWLES, 10. Jamie MACLAREN, (11. Slobodan VULIN 80’), (18. Bor Bor SAMBINDI 45’), (19. Matt NTOPOULOS 17’), 16. Hanafi GHAZALI, 17. Harry O’Brien.

Substitutes not used: 4. Jack OLDHAM, 20. Ryan BARKER.
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil

Cockburn City: 5. Alan CARROLL, (6. Papa KAPTHR 64’),  7. Ryan HASLETT, 8. David ARRAYA, 9. Eamon McNELIS, 11. Devon GIBSON, 12. Feisal ZAW, 13. Blake ADAMS, (14. Conor KAVANAGH 45’), 16 . Julian TELES, 18. Ross DIAMOND, 19. Oscar THOMPSON, (20. Jonty TURNER  57’), 23. Dejan ALEKSIC (gk)    

Substitutes not used: 1. Struan HERD, 3. Shazalee RAMLEE,
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil