Report by Chris Caldwell

Joe Knowles scored the only goal of the game as Perth Glory secured a 1-0 win over title-chasing Perth SC at Ashfield Arena on Saturday.

Knowles, who was man of the match in Glory’s final match of a recent Philippines tour, struck just before half-time to earn his side an important victory.

Glory’s stand-in coach Jacob Burns was delighted with the performance of the young side.

“They’ve applied themselves well all week and it’s good to be able to translate that to game day,” he said. “I honestly thought they deserved a bit more out of it, but Perth are a good side. The future looks bright.”

The result lifted Glory four points clear of last-placed Subiaco, while Perth, who could have gone top had they won against Glory, slipped to third.

Disappointed Perth coach Ramon Falzon said the defeat had been hard to take.

“We were horrible,” he said. “We were very disappointing. It’s down to the players’ mentality. Training was fine but our performance was the opposite. It’s tight at the top and today’s opportunity for three points will never come back and we’ve missed the opportunity to go top.”

The visitors started brightly with Rocco Pizzata firing just over before top scorer Gustavo Catarcione almost put his side in front just seven minutes in.

The Brazilian intercepted the ball on halfway, raced past a defender and forced keeper Jordan Thurtell into a smart save. Then, on 20 minutes, Nicholas Ambrogio went closer again, cracking a first time, left-footed volley off the bar from the edge of the box.

That was about as good as it got for the visitors, though, as Glory broke immediately with Nikola Talimdzioski crossing for Kosta Petratos to have a shot blocked, seconds before the former then fired wide when well placed.

Four minutes later, Petratos dug out an excellent cross to the back post where Daniel Stynes forced Francis Soale into a save with his feet.

Those three chances signalled what was to come as Glory opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time when Knowles latched on to a Petratos through ball, rode the challenge of a defender and smashed the ball come across Soale.

The second half was all Glory, with Talimdzioski and Stynes both going close before Soale produced an excellent double save from the former and Knowles to keep the visitors in the game with five minutes remaining.

And the Perth keeper’s heroics were almost rewarded with the last kick of the game when Catarcione found himself free in the box with only the keeper to beat. The normally lethal hitman blazed wildly off target to end his side’s hopes of rescuing a point.

Perth Glory (Joseph Knowles, 45+1mins)
Perth SC 0
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Ashfield Arena
Kick-off: 3pm
Referee: Tom Glanavovic
Assistant referees: Adrien Liechti and Anthony Walsh

Perth Glory: 1. Jordan THURTELL (cpt), 2. Gian ALBANO, 3. Scott ROBERTSON, 4. Jack IREDALE, 5. Ross MILLARD (13. Dejan SPAESKI, 66), 6. Brandon WILSON (14. Sean TROUP, 90), 7. Kosta PETRATOS (12. Yacob MUSTAFA, 90+3), 8. Cal WHITNEY, 9. Nic TALIMOZIOSKI, 10. Joseph KNOWLES, 11. Daniel STYNES.
Substitutes not used: 15. Sam MCKEARNEN, 20. Riley STEPHENSON.
Yellow card: Thurtell, 73.
Red cards: Nil.

Perth SC: 1. Francis SOALE, 2. David FILLIPPOU (15. Harley ORR, 72), 4. Adrian MADASCHI (17. Francesco FURFARO, 75), 5. Nathan DIAZ, 6. Clark KELTIE (cpt), 7. Aleksandar JOVIC, 9. Gustavo CATACIONE, 10. Nicholas AMBROGIO, 12. Jordan DE LEO, 13. Rocco PIAZZATA, 14.Dino TOPCAGIC (11. Matthew MILENCOVIC, 46).
Substitutes not used: 16. Thomas JEBB, 23. Daniel PASSARELLI.
Yellow card: Pizzata, 64.
Red cards: Nil.