An experimental Inglewood United outfit has been defeated 4-0 by A-League club Perth Glory in last night’s mid-season friendly at Dalmatinac Park. Glory held a handy two-goal buffer by the break courtesy of Mitch Oxborrow and Chris Harold with youngster Stefan Valentini sealing the win with a second half brace.
“We took the opportunity to play a high level opposition and try a new formation and some players in different roles, knowing we would be tested without having to worry about the result,” assistant coach Saul Contera said. “All in all it was a positive experience for the players.”
Inglewood impressed early but it was Glory that found the back of the net midway through the first half through Oxborrow before Harold fired in their second, much to the delight of the small crowd. The second half saw both teams make a rash of changes with Valentini making his mark by scoring twice for the national league side.
“We were happy with the effort from the guys,” commented Contera. “The first 20 minutes was especially pleasing, the intensity and football was of a high quality from both sides, however, Glory can maintain that intensity for long periods. They showed us the behaviours, selfless running and movement needed to be at that top level.”
Match stats
Perth Glory 4 (Mitch Oxborrow, Chris Harold, Stefan Valentini 2)
Inglewood United 0
Perth Glory (squad): Jerrad Tyson, Michael Thwaite, Dino Djulbic, Josh Risdon, Marc Warren, Gyorgy Sandor, Antony Golec, Mitch Oxborrow, Nebojsa Marinkovic, Richard Garcia, Chris Harold, Nick Feely, Gian Albano, Slobodan Vulin, Jacob Collard, Stefan Valentini, Nic Talimdzioski, Ross Millard, Hagi Gligor, Hayden Stevens, Cal Whitney, Sean Troup, Waleiden Ismail, Jesse Lazzaro, Dejan Spaseski
Inglewood United (squad): Jordan Howell, Milan Ognjenovic, Jovo Pavlovic, Rikki Smith, Jarrad McNally, Mohamed Awad, Andrija Jukic, Tim Gould, David Sesay, Kenny Keogh, Abdul Sesay, Mark Barnett, Scott Witschge, Jason Colli, Ryan Sardi, James Atkins, Jaedon Ewen, David Molinari
Bookings: Nil
Dismissals: Nil
Photograph by Tom McCarthy (Tom_Mc_c@hotmail.com)
