Glory make winning start at Macedonia Park

Gareth Morgan

Goals from Perth-born duo Ryan Williams and Jack Clisby fired Glory to an impressive 2-1 win over reigning ISUZU UTE A-League champions Western United in what was the men’s first outing at Macedonia Park.

In front of a near-capacity crowd, Williams’ cross looped in at the far post to give the hosts the lead in the 14th minute and Clisby duly made it 2-0 seven minutes into the second half with a stunning, right-foot curler.

Former Glory midfielder Neil Kilkenny found the net with a free-kick six minutes from time to set up a tense and dramatic finale in which the visitors lost Leo Lacroix to a straight red card and struck the post through Noah Botic’s header.

But the men in purple dug deep to hang on and secure what Head Coach Ruben Zadkovich felt was a victory everyone associated with the club deserved.

“I’m just really, really proud for everyone, especially my playing group,” he said. “We really wanted to do it for our fans who have been without football here for a long time. “They’ve endured a pretty horrid time for the club, to be honest. “They stick with us; that’s what Perth Glory fans do and it was nice to get a win in front of them. “I thought the facility, Macedonia Park and the way it’s come together was a massive positive.”

Perth are back in action next Sunday when they take on MacArthur FC.

IMAGE: Perth Glory FC