Glory enjoying home away from home: Coyne

Josh Kempton

Perth Glory assistant coach Chris Coyne believes being back playing games in front of the purple faithful has given his team a big lift.

The Glory climbed off the bottom of the A-League ladder last night with a 2-1 win over the Brisbane Roar, with goals coming from centre back Darryl Lachman and an own goal from former Perth defender Scott Neville.

The win was the Glory’s third from four games at their temporary home of Macedonia Park, with HBF Park out of action due to renovations to prepare for the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Coyne said his team were benefiting from the atmosphere at the upgraded suburban ground.

“We set out to have a home away from home and use that to our advantage, and so far, so good,” Coyne told Sports Breakfast.

“The buy-in from the members and from the public’s been really good, to be honest.

“It’s close, it’s tight, The Shed and the active area is right on top of you, so it’s just got a different feel to normal A-League games.”

The visitors threw caution into the wind after their captain Jay O’Shea was sent off in the 62nd minute, with Coyne believing his side did well to hang on to their lead.

“Seeing that resilience and toughness and resoluteness, they sent their goalkeeper up as well at one point for a free kick, so they were throwing everything at us, and the boys dug in well,” he said.

“It was disappointing to concede from a set piece, it’s a bit of an Achilles heel for us at the moment that we’re not conceding through general play but we’re conceding through moments, and those moments are just individual lapses, not so much the team shape or a tactical element.

“That last 10 minutes, the way the boys rolled their sleeves up and they dug in was really pleasing.”

The Glory have been dealing with a spate of injuries since the league resumed after the World Cup break, with Irish midfielder Aaron McEneff and dynamic winger Salim Khelifi recently added to the list.

“When you play back-to-back games and the games just keep rolling on without that recovery time, it’s more the knocks and the niggles and those little tweaks and the smaller injuries they pick up,” Coyne said.

“We’ll monitor where they’re at, wrap them up in a bit of cotton wool and do a bit of a recovery session today.

“Ryan Williams and Mark Beevers came in, done excellent for us last night, so hopefully those little niggles they had carrying into the game, they’ll be good to go on Saturday again, because they’re big performers for us and you need those sorts of players on the pitch.”

The Glory will be in action again at Macedonia Park on Saturday night against Sydney FC, with returning striker Adam Taggart a chance to play his first game back with the club.

IMAGE: ESPN.