League Leaders Failing to Roar

League leaders Perth Glory managed to walk away with a point at nib stadium after an incredibly poor display against defending champions Brisbane Roar.
Perth simply looked bereft of any ideas throughout the match and played as if they were a visiting away side. Brisbane just were given too much space, freedom and pace of the game when Perth made a woeful start from the initial kick off.
Even when Brisbane were a man down Perth simply played as if it were they who were playing short and made the task look almost impossible. Despite this painful display they did hit the lead at the break a goal to nil but were lucky to have such a score line.
Typical defensive errors and tentative actions gave Brisbane the equaliser and then minutes later a bullet transition, defensive lapse with a counter gave the visitors a second goal to put them 2-1 up.

Towards the end Perth were picking up but it was too little too late with taking control of the game. A fortuitous cross became a shot which hit the crossbar and then a neat rebound shot to level the score was very impressive. However the league leaders need to dominating and taking control of the game not try and hang on for 90 minutes for dear life.

Once again I did not have any food or drink at the ground due to the insane prices although It would be worth it to have a few drinks at the members bar as it is full flavoured alcoholic beverages that are the same price as weak watered down mid or light strength.

Force Blown Away by Hurricanes

The Western Force seems to have peaked early already in the 2015 Super Rugby season with a dreadful loss to the Wellington Hurricanes at nib Stadium. You could be forgiven if you thought you were watching the Force of 3 seasons ago with such dreadful defending and a myriad of unforced errors gifting the Hurricanes incredibly easy tries that would make an under 15's schoolboy's side look like a super rugby franchise side. The torture was finally over with the Hurricanes winning 40 to 13 with the Force running over the line for a late second half try.

With the Western Force celebrating their 10th year this is definitely something to not get too excited about. Especially after the side made assurances such woeful capitulations were a thing of the past. You can have off days and a few weeks of bad matches but to just get belted constantly over 10 seasons besides 2014 is just not fun. You can see in the member's eyes that they are starting to reach a point where the tolerance is nearing an end.

I also like the fact away supporters, should I say local residents who are living in this fine city of ours outnumber the home support in crowd noise and encouragement. You would think the Force are playing an away match sometimes.

Let's hope that the display at nib Stadium was the worst for the side's 10th year and hopefully more positive results to come. Come on Force repeat the effort of last year.

Again, no food or drink due to the exorbitant prices.

Night Series at the Gardens

Night series resumed at Dorrien Gardens with Inglewood taking on Sorrento and Perth hosting ECU Joondalup for the finishing fixture. Due to work commitments I was only able to get into the ground to see Perth take on ECU which was a close match for most parts but Perth eventually ran out 4-2 winners. Sorrento also won on the right 2-0.

Despite this being pre-season the food at Dorrien was fantastic and once again I have to applaud the kitchen and bar staff at Perth SC for their continued hard work. A nice touch was the uniforms which is making the club look very professional which seems to be taken for granted at for example WAFL clubs or similar clubs. About time football takes pride in itself and smartens itself up.

Now onto the food, the pasta would have to be the best they made since I've been coming to Dorrien. Butterfly pasta with lovely pasta tomato sauce that was cooked just right to have that melt in your mouth feeling as you took a bite into the pasta. You could add parmesan cheese onto the pasta or a bit of salt or pepper for your taste. This came in at 7 dollars for a good sized container which was worth every dollar.

The chips like at Litis were alright but not out of the park great. 3 dollars for just chips and an extra 2 for gravy. Some salt and pepper got it across the line but this is only pre-season so you could understand they rush to get chips out to everyone as it was a bit busy.

The hamburger was rather nice with fresh ingredients and nice and wholesome with the soft bread but i was initially mislead by some of the lettuce was stacked to one side thinking they shrunk the patty! No in Perth fashion it was all there and was very fulfilling well worth the 7 dollar price tag. Cool drinks rounded off the night at the usual $2.50

Another great night to Dorrien Gardens to watch some great football and to enjoy it with some wonderful food. If you are in the area and you are wanting to watch some football and have a decent feed then you should head to the gardens to have both those desires ticked off the list.

 

Goals Galore at Litis

Night Series continued at E&D Litis Stadium Mount Hawthorn between Balcatta taking on Bayswater in the opening match and hosts Floreat Athena playing Stirling in the second match of the night.

The opening match was a close encounter with the game being controlled by both sides but they could never really dominate their opponent. Balcatta managed to level the score and hold Bayswater to 2 goals each. However it would be the following game that would have everyone talking.

Floreat Athena took Stirling apart in a first half of destruction. To be honest it was painful to watch and the worst performance I have ever seen from a NPLWAU side in many many years. Floreat were just too strong and put 6 very easy goals past a non existent Stirling in the first half. The home crowd were thoroughly thrilled at the score and there was quite a turn up for this night of football which was great to see.

The second half was much better for Stirling as they sure up their defence and tried to push for at least a salvage goal to save their first half embarrassments. Stirling did however manage to score two quick goals in the last 10 minutes with some good attacking play but it was far too little far too late. The score ended 6-2

Once again food delivered at Litis, but for pre-season it wasn't quite up to its match best. However the kebab with chilli is high on the list for any guest to try. With it priced the same as any other establishment in the city it was worth the price and to have you wanting more is a great sign the kitchen staff are once again doing a fantastic job! The chips were a little on the plain side but its only pre-season, the four dollar tag probably just a bit too high. Cool drink was at the stock standard $2.50.

Mythos, Tooheys extra Dry, Carlton Draught and Emu Export were all 5 dollars which is an absolute bargain. To watch football and have a great meal over a kebab and drink is an excellent combination. I really cannot see why more people are not going to Litis?

So there wraps up another night of eventful Night Series. I hope that people in and around Perth who want to see some football between the A-League and other football on TV should get down to venues like Litis.

Old Soccer Federation of Western Australia offices in the grandstand rear doors.

Night Series Returns to Macedonia Park

Night series returns to Macedonia Park for the National Premier Leagues Western Australia Night Series which is separate to the Football West Night Series. The earlier match was Bayswater City against Shamrock Rovers and the later game was Stirling and local rivals Balcatta.

Due to the Wildcats going into double overtime we were unable to get to the first game on time so missed the first 20 minutes of the opening match. Shamrock were participating in the NPLWAU Night Series due to Perth Glory participating in a busy period of the National Youth League which is mid-way through that season.
Shamrock were dominating a rather sluggish Bayswater and really should have scored 2 but the Bayswater defence held firm. It wasn't until the last 20 minutes of the game Shamrock were completely unstuck through a series of unfortunate defensive lapses that made the score not reflect the true nature of the contest.
Game was 1-1 at half time but a well placed shot from the Shamrock defender into the back post gave Bayswater their second goal via an own goal. Tired legs created Bayswater to score a third to finish the game at 3-1.

The second game between the hosts Stirling and cross park rivals Balcatta was a very dour, dull and sluggish affair. To be honest I wanted to have 45 minutes of my life back it was that uneventful. However the second half sparked to life with Balcatta hitting the lead through a penalty, however the game started to die down until Stirling decided to pull a trick down the far wing and the scores were 1 a piece.
With the tempo of the game up a few notches the game was ebbing and flowing although the intensity was slowly dying down until some Stirling magic was displayed. Down the same far flank wonderful threaded pass which was then flicked up and then placed to put the in the lead at 2-1. Balcatta then pegged it back to 2-2 with a well executed counter attack down the near grandstand wing. Matched ended 2-2 however not the greatest displays of football to watch.

Food at Macedonia Park is always a good standard with burgers at 6 dollars and cool drinks at 2.50. Burger was very delicious with fresh produce and not bland when you take every bite. The bar has EFTPOS over the counter although a 1 dollar surcharge to pay via card. While I am not a fan of surcharges this would be my only exception as its important to support local sporting bodies and a contribution of a dollar or two helps them to provide a good facility for you to watch the sports you like and enjoy. Beers were 7 dollars I forgot to mention which is rather reasonable.

Sky Blue On A Not So Glorious Night

Another venture to nib Stadium to watch a STILL top of the table Perth Glory play host to an improving Sydney FC on a nice balmy night in Perth. However due to many factors things did not go so well for the hosts as Sydney played as if the controversial match was just a simple run of the mill home clash in Sydney.
Perth were never really dominating the match in the final third but they were moving the ball up and clearing their lines rather well until some silly and questionable decisions fell Sydney's way. The new signing Paljic was incredibly below average and saying sub-par would be polite. Paljic made a stupid pull on the shirt of the Sydney player who fell down and the referee had no choice but to award the penalty.

Sydney hit the lead and Perth were pressing for an equaliser but drama ensured in the Perth penalty area which should have been a Perth penalty but it wasnt given. Sydney defender Faty brought down Dulbic and prevented him from getting up by grabbing his head and shirt. The referee based on awarding the first penalty should have awarded Perth a penalty. However both Dulbic and Faty were sent off after both exchanged heated words to each other which involved both sides.

The referee awarded a bizarre free kick to Sydney after sending both players off and effectively killed off the flow of the game from this referee brain melt. Perth were pressed with the loss of their fiery defender and just looked rather toothless with Keogh just running around doing rather little.

Despite Sydney having another player sent off, they looked like they had not lost 2 players and it was Perth who were playing with 9 men, a rather poor display from league leaders.

Another penalty was awarded to Sydney in the second half when Janko was brought down from the new Slovenian signing Kramar which was rather soft as Janko was throwing himself at every opportunity any Perth player placed a hand or showed a physical presence. Sydney then doubled their lead 2 goals to nil.
Perth had a brief glimmer of hope when they pegged one back to make it 2-1 when minutes later a moment of old Perth crept in. Poor defending combined with poor positioning left Vukovic stranded with Thwaite running to cut off the play but an initial save from Vukovic rebounded and Ibini slotted it in to seal the game 3-1.

Due to the stupid high prices at the ground I did not buy any food or drink but noticed someone in the crowd in front of me complain that a chicken wrap and a coke cost nearly 20 dollars. You would expect that for a restaurant and even then it would be slightly on the high side in Perth.

Perth looked like a team outside of the top 6, perhaps Perth are not the consummate league leaders perhaps the fans of the west think with a performance like that. Hopefully Perth get a rocket up the proverbial and put in hopefully a better performance against an Adelaide side that is playing some solid football.