Perth Glory let a two goal lead slip in its weekend clash with the Brisbane Roar, settling for a 2-2 draw that sees the club remain firmly in the race for a maiden finals berth.
WAIS scholarship holder Kate Gill and Marianna Tabain scored for the visitors in the first half, but goals to Tameka Butt and Katrina Gorry for the Roar in the second half, ensured a share of the spoils.
The match was played in steamy conditions at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre, but that didn’t prevent the Glory from pressing energetically whenever the Roar tried to play their possession game.
Glory started brightly with Collette McCallum and Gill both going close from corners as they began to dominate the early proceedings.
The visitors’ dominance from set pieces paid dividends after 34 minutes when McCallum’s curling corner was scrambled in by Gill at the near post.
The Roar almost equalised two minutes later when the zippy Emily Gielnik was put through one-on-one with Carly Telford, but her cracking shot from the right was saved spectacularly by the Glory shot-stopper to keep the visitors in front.
Just before half time, Perth doubled their lead. Elisa D’Ovidio smacked the cross bar with a venomous shot before Tabain picked up the loose ball and looped a cheeky shot over Roar goalkeeper Kate Stewart and into the back of the net.
Substitute Butt, introduced at half time, showed why Roar coach Belinda Wilson decided to bring her on, as she slalomed through Perth’s defence seconds into the second half, only to shoot straight at Telford.
Butt was proving a masterful substitution for the hosts, and she scored to make it 2-1 midway through the second half. Gielnik controlled in the box and fired at Telford, who couldn’t hang on to the shot, and Butt was on hand to side foot into the net and bring her side back into the contest.
Six minutes later, Gielnik almost set up the blonde dynamo once more, but Butt slightly overran her perfect cross from the right to scoop a shot over the bar.
Sustained pressure finally resulted in an equaliser for the Roar, with Gorry finishing well after being set up delightfully by winger Vedrana Popovic.
Brisbane pushed on for a winner and had a strong penalty shout waved away before Perth somehow survived a goalmouth scramble as the match ended in an entertaining draw.
– FFA
