Roy Law
Well-Known Member
Monty!
The Mariners did not deserve to lose this and an utterly unambitious Perth did not deserve to win it so Nick Montgomery’s late howitzer made for a fair result. Both sides seemed to be playing as if it was a meaningless end of season game which it pretty much was for the Mariners but Perth were utterly pathetic for a team supposed to be challenging for top honours.When the flying Superman Liam Reddy got just a feather of a finger tip to deflect Marinkovic’s drive onto the bar you might have thought Perth would have been emboldened to take the game to the Mariners but they didn’t. They were awful. It was the Mariners’ midfield with the biting tackling of Montgomery, the calm play of Hutchinson and the dancing feet of Caceres that controlled most of the play. Bringing the skilful Ferreira and the lively Cernak into the game they gave it a good go – but there is nothing up front to take advantage; Nick Fitzgerald simply cannot score goals.
He came close when a flowing move gave him a chance from the edge of the box but his decent left foot effort was just wide and then after a great run from Ferreira he dispossessed the clumsy Djulbic and almost rounded the keeper but in the wet conditions he could not quite squeeze enough on the shot and the ball bounced off the post to safety.
Drama hit the Mariners when the feisty Poscoliero limped off with a recurrence of the hamstring injury suffered last week against Adelaide. Rose went to CB and Mat Sim came in at LB and still Perth did nothing to exploit the weakness. Cernak got a yellow for an embarrassing dive and Morton, often struggling for air in a rare first team appearance made an excellent intervention at the far post.
Fitzgerald was at it again in the opening minutes of the second half, a splendid run met by Cernak’s equally good pass, but without the confidence to shoot first time he dragged it back to his left and hit the shot horribly wide.
Caceres was producing the most extraordinary skills to the delight of the crowd but the Mariners were not troubling Jack Duncan in goal. Kalik came on for Cernak who received appreciative applause from the crowd for his spirited effort. Reddy swept splendidly when Anderson slipped base over apex on the wet surface to deny McLaren but in the 78th minute McLaren got the break when the Mariners’ weakened central defence could not stop him winning a header from a corner, getting in front of Kalik and Reddy to find the back of the net. It was a dispiriting moment as the Mariners did not deserve to be behind.
Perth’s lack of ambition let them down as they dropped deep and allowed the Mariners to come forward. Caceres had a chance blocked after good work by Kalik. Major came on for Hutchinson, and then Montgomery lit up the stadium and brought justice to the score line with a rocket of a drive to the top corner of the Perth Glory net.
The Mariners were gutsy today but have no edge up front; if Major and Bingham are not good enough to take the place of Fitzgerald at No. 9 why are they in this Mariners squad? The watching Matt Simon must wonder what is going on. Reddy was excellent today, as was the hard driving hard tackling Monty. Ferreira and Cernak both produced moments of excitement, but the delightful skills of Caceres, so difficult to dispossess, gains him my MoM today
Replays just remind me of what a powerful shot it was. And the TV shows the joy on his and the others faces which you can't see at the ground, maybe Bay 16 who were right there, but what a shot and what a crowd reaction too. 
