A goal in the first minute and one in the last minute have handed Brisbane Roar their first Hyundai A-League away win in eight games with a 2-1 win over Perth Glory at nib Stadium.
Ange Postecoglou fielded an unchanged line-up from the team which were victorious over Melbourne Heart at Suncorp Stadium last weekend.
It was the perfect start for Postecoglou-s charges when German midfielder Thomas Broich attacked the Perth defence, beating three defenders before crossing perfectly for Reinaldo who slipped the goal in from a metre out.
Brisbane weren-t content with the one goal lead and immediately pressed for a second, pushing Perth back into their defensive third.
The lead didn-t last long, however, when Brisbane conceded a corner on five minutes and left Mile Sterjovski unmarked on the back post, and the Socceroos- header across goal was met on the head by Scott Neville to nod into an open goal.
The goal rattled Brisbane and former Roar player Michael Baird had the opportunity to put the home side in front a minute later when he was put through one-on-one with Michael Theoklitos, but his finish was straight at the Brisbane keeper.
The match was open and attacking with both teams pushing forward at every opportunity.
Baird was proving to be a nuisance for the Roar defence and when he muscled Luke DeVere off the ball on 17 minutes he again was faced only with Theoklitos again, but this time put his effort wide.
At the other end Tando Velaphi had to be on his toes to keep out a curling Erik Paartalu shot and was forced to concede a corner.
Brisbane began to take the upper hand in the contest but some desperate defending by the home side kept the Brisbane side at bay.
Perth, though, were proving very dangerous on the break and after winning another corner nearly caught Brisbane with an identical set-piece to the goal they scored, but this time the away side were this time able to deal with the threat.
Brisbane almost regained the lead three minutes to the break when Matt McKay released Reinaldo on the edge of the box, but the big striker-s well-struck shot just went the wrong side of the post.
Almost immediately at the other end Perth twice went close to taking the lead themselves as the first half ended as it had begun.
The frantic, end-to-end action continued right up until Ben Williams blew the whistle for the half time break to give everyone the chance to catch their breath.
The opening of the second half was less frenetic than the closing of the first as both sides settled into sterner midfield battle.
Kosta Barbarouses looked to put himself on the scoresheet with a move down the Glory left after a combination with Milan Susak, but once in the box he shot into the side netting.
Mitch Nichols was introduced into the contest on 61 minutes and was immediately into the action setting up Reinaldo, but his effort was directly at Velaphi.
Nichols had the ball in the net on 67 minutes but was called back for offside in a very tight call from the referee-s assistant.
Brisbane again continued to press looking for the goal to give them the lead, but just couldn-t find the finishing touch in the penalty area to make the difference.
Broich then nearly caught Perth out from a free-kick on the edge of the box, but his curling shot beat the wall and went past the post.
A goal-mouth scramble on the edge of the six yard box lead to chances for both Reinaldo and Nichols, but neither could find the touch to take the ball past Velaphi.
Velaphi then denied Nichols with an outstanding fingertip save after the midfielder struck a good shot from outside the box.
Substitute Rocky Visconte was looking to make the most of his appearance off the bench, but after turning his defender around inside the box his shot was well held by Velaphi.
With a minute left in the match, Visconte did just that with a fortunate touch after a delightful through-ball from Nichols set the left-footer into the box.
A relieved Brisbane coach, Postecoglou joked he had post-match words with his players over the manner of their win.
“The boys left it late and I-ve had a word to them about that,” Postecoglou said. “They-re not treating their coach-s heart to well.
“I thought we deserved it to be fair on the balance of chances, especially in the second half.”
Postecoglou highlighted his ability to bring quality off the bench as one of the keys to the success in the Western Australian capital.
“That-s part of our plan. We want to have a strong squad,” he said.
“Mitch was fantastic last week and he was great again today.
“The fact we can throw people on in the last half hour who are quality, it-s not just throwing on substitutes for the sake of it, I think makes a difference.”
Perth Glory (Scott Neville 6-)
Brisbane Roar (Reinaldo 1-, Rocky VISCONTE 94-)
Sunday, 3 October 2010
nib Stadium, Perth
Referee: Ben Williams
Perth Glory squad: 1. Tando VELAPHI (gk), 4. Andy TODD, 5. Jamie HARNWELL (25. Ryan PEARSON 28-), 7. Jacob BURNS (C), 9.Robbie FOWLER (11. Branko JELIC 69-), 10. Michael BAIRD, 12.Scott NEVILLE, 16. Adriano PELLEGRINO, 17. Todd HOWARTH, 19. Naum SEKULOVSKI (14. Steven McGARRY 53-), 21. Mile STERJOVSKI.
Substitutes (not used): 20 Aleks VRTESKI (gk)
Yellow cards: 7. Jacob BURNS (72-)
Red cards:>/b> Nil
Brisbane Roar squad: 1. Michael THEOKLITOS (gk), 2. Matt SMITH, 3. Luke DEVERE, 4. Shane STEFANUTTO, 6. Erik PAARTALU, 7. Kosta BARBAROUSES (14. Rocky VISCONTE 77-), 8. Massimo MURDOCCA (17. Mitch NICHOLS 61-), 11. REINALDO,15. Matt McKAY (c), 22. Thomas BROICH, 23. Milan SUSAK.
Substitutes not used: 12. Matt MUNDY, 20. Andrew REDMAYNE
Yellow cards: 17. Mitch NICHOLS (67-), Erik PAARTALU (82-)
Red cards: Nil
