There were two Hyundai A-League friendlies played across the country last night while FFA Cup 2018 action took centre stage.
Perth Glory and Adelaide United shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw at a behind-closed-doors friendly at Coopers Stadium.
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A Jordan Elsey own goal and stunning volley from Tomi Mrcela had Glory poised to enter the break with a handsome lead, but Ken Ilso’s penalty and Mirko Boland’s strike locked the scores up on the interval.
That’s how it remained in the city of churches, and despite surrendering their advantage Glory boss Tony Popovic was pleased with his side’s showing.
"It's clear that we're making progress," remarked the Glory boss.
"We were up 2-0 which was very good and aspects of our game, both in attack and defensively, were also very good.
"Ok, we gave two cheap goals away just before half time which may have been due to a bit of fatigue and a lack of concentration, but this was a game against the kind of opposition that we haven't faced since Melbourne Victory in the FFA Cup.”
Simon head and shoulders above the rest
Meanwhile, Matt Simon’s hat-trick guided Central Coast Mariners to a 4-0 win over Central Coast United.
Simon’s treble comprised of three headed goals and was added to by a Mario Shabow strike as Mike Mulvey’s side continued their pre-season preparations at a packed Pluim Park.
Elsewhere, Melbourne Victory have been hard at work on the training pitch but Keisuke Honda and company found time out of their schedule to pay a few special supporters a visit at a local hospital.
