Perth Glory has bounced back from an opening round loss in the Westfield W-League by thrashing Adelaide United 4-0 at nib Stadium.
Westfield Matildas striker and WAIS-AIS scholarship holder Kate Gill continued her rich vein of scoring form by bagging a double, while Most Glorious Player Shannon May (WAIS) and Sam Kerr (WAIS-AIS) chimed in with singles apiece.
Gill was named the Westfield Player of the Match after slotting home two spot kicks and setting up May for her goal, which made it 3-0 at half time before Kerr added another with ten minutes remaining.
Adelaide started the better of the two teams and Donna Cockayne was lively early on the left side of the park, causing the Glory a few problems with her attacking game.
Perth’s first chance came through tenacious midfielder Elisa D’Ovidio, whose one-two with Kerr saw her effort curl onto the tip of the crossbar.
Glory began to dominate in midfield thanks to the returning Collette McCallum (WAIS-AIS) and forward drive of May.
Kerr was then fouled in the box soon after by Ruth Blackburn and referee Kate Jacewicz did not hesitate in pointing to the spot.
Up stepped Gill to make no mistake with her penalty kick to continue her remarkable scoring record of making the scoresheet in every game she has played for the Glory.
It then took just five minutes for Perth to double its lead.
Kerr was yet again fouled in the 18-yard-box, this time by goalkeeper Cian McLaren, and Gill bagged her second from the spot to give her side a solid 2-0 lead.
The Gill and Kerr combination has been lethal at international level and their knowledge of each other was on display to give Adelaide coach Mike Barnett a few headaches.
Gill’s lively presence up front then provided Perth’s third goal as she passed to May in the box to smash home a shot from just inside the penalty area with the aid of the crossbar.
It was reminiscent of her effort last week against Canberra United, but this time the upright helped her shot rebound across the goal line to make it 3-0 before the interval.
The Lady Reds began the second half well but despite constantly attacking in the final third, they were unable to trouble Tine Cederkvist in goal for Perth.
Glory’s back four led by captain Tanya Oxtoby were superb all afternoon and made it quite difficult for United to have many clear-cut chances.
With just ten minutes remaining in the match, Kerr put the icing on the cake by scoring her first of the season with a neat side-foot finish from close range.
Perth coach John Gibson was thrilled with the effort his side put in today.
“The girls were outstanding today, particularly in the first half,” he said.
“All we wanted was a solid performance and our defence was fantastic in particular.
“Having Collette (McCallum) back was great for us, she’s a quality player and we missed her last week against Canberra.
“The bye next week will freshen us up a bit and then we look forward to playing Brisbane in two weeks.”
– Football West
