A-League Men: Perth Glory draw 0-0 with Central Coast Mariners as they secure first point of the season

Perth Glory are finally on the board for the A-League Men’s season as secured a valuable 0-0 draw with Central Coast Mariners at Industree Group Stadium. It will not be a game any Glory fan — or Mariners one, for that matter — will re-watch in a hurry, with chances at a premium as Perth produced a dour but effective defensive performance. But they were almost denied a point late, with the Video Assistant Referee coming to Perth’s rescue late to dismiss a penalty awarded against them. Referee Nathan Shakespear initially awarded a handball against centre-back Luis Canga, only to reverse his decision after deeming Canga’s arm was not in an unnatural position when it made contact with the ball. In comparison to previous weeks, Perth backed off their press as they were more selective with where and when they attempted to win the ball, as opposed to their harem-skarem style which had come unstuck in previous weeks. With Perth sitting deeper, they ceded possession and failed to conjure up many chances in front of goal as they landed just one late shot on target — but the upshot was they were tighter defensively, ending a run of 11 games without a clean sheet. “I was very pleased with the reaction from the first two games, but within this game, first five minutes, you could see some of the guys were nervous,” Glory coach David Zdrilic said. “We’ve got a blend of youth and experience, but you can see after the first two games it was a very nervy start. “The very good thing for us is we were able to manage to get back into the game and settle it and take the sting out of the game.” The composed defensive performance came despite some early Mariners dominance, and it took just three minutes for them to carve out a genuine scoring chance, when Sasha Kuzevski steamed in unmarked at the back post, only for a combination of Zach Lisolajski and Oli Sail to keep out his goal-bound effort. Central Coast looked ominous as Alfie McCalmont continued to be afforded space in the middle of the park to progress his side up the pitch, while Mikael Doka looked dangerous as he drifted in from the left and linked up well with Lucas Mauragis. They pressed Perth high up the pitch and did not allow their defence to be settled on the ball, while the Glory were more restrained, or at least more picky, with where and when they pressed their opponents. Mariners’ goalkeeper Dylan Peraic-Cullen worked himself into trouble on multiple occasions with his distribution out from the back, and he handed Perth their best chance of the opening 45 minutes. His slightly inaccurate backpass forced Harrison Steele into reaching and losing the ball in the box, only for Brandon O’Neill to side-foot disappointingly wide. After the host’s early flurry, Perth sat a bit deeper and although they were still caught on the hop when they pressed and were unsuccessful, it meant they entered half-time without having conceded a first-half goal for the first time in 11 games. Perth battened down the hatches in the second half, as they retreated deeper and deeper into their own half, allowing the Mariners to dictate terms and tempo, with Doka becoming increasingly prominent. But they failed to create chances for the most part, with their best sight coming when Kuzevski threw his foot at a deep ball to the back-post and his cross whistled dangerously across goal. By contrast, Adam Taggart cut an increasingly lonely and frustrated figure up front, shooting well wide of the mark from a difficult angle for Perth’s only shot of the second half. The Mariners thought they had a gilt-edged chance for victory when Doka’s dink across the face of goal hit Canga’s arm in the six-yard box with less than 15 minutes to play. But after awarding the penalty, referee Shakespear consulted the VAR and went back on his original decision after deciding the defender’s arm was not in an unnatural position. Substitute Nathanael Blair had a late chance for the Glory, but his shot was hit straight at Peraic-Cullen.