Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson said the regulation drinks breaks due to the humid and sweltering conditions in Adelaide were a blessing in disguise for his side on their way to a well-earned 3-0 victory over Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium on Sunday night.
Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson said the regulation drinks breaks due to the humid and sweltering conditions in Adelaide were a blessing in disguise for his side on their way to a well-earned 3-0 victory over Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium.
With strong humidity and a temperature above 30 degrees inside the ground, officials made the decision to provide both teams with drink breaks at regular intervals.
Despite driving forward and containing possession early against Adelaide, the Glory soon found themselves on the backfoot as the Reds took control and dominated.
Adelaide could have easily been ahead in the opening 10 minutes of the match had striker Bruce Djite not squandered a number of clear cut chances including two with only the goal at his mercy.
The first drinks break was then called as Perth reassessed and punished the Reds for their struggles in the final third on 14 minutes when frontman Shane Smeltz pounced on a Daniel Mullen error.
The interlude seem to propel the Glory as they found a second moments later through Scotsman Steven McGarry before the result was assured late on by former Manchester United and Sunderland midfielder Liam Miller.
Ferguson admitted his side rode their luck in the opening stages due to Adelaide-s lack of proficiency in front of goals.
"We obviously rode our luck a little bit in the first 15 minutes or so … thank god for the drinks break, to me that was a turning point in the game for us," Ferguson conceded.
"My fullbacks weren-t picking their runners up they were meant to be picking up, we were getting overloaded in there and they were causing us a few problems.
"During the drinks break we were able to get the players in, sort it out and show the players what we were looking for on the board - that helped us.
"We obviously got the goals and then after that they found it hard to break us down at times … going in at half-time 2-0 was good for us."
Ferguson further praised the character shown by his players to respond to the early onslaught they endured from the Reds.
"On another day Brucey (Djite) puts them away and you can be dead and buried, but we showed good character," Ferguson said.
"I do not really want to criticise Brucey for missing those chances - that-s Adelaide's problem.
"My problem was trying to sort things out and the time it came we were still fortunate to be 0-0."
The win thrust Perth into fourth spot just one point outside the top three and boosted their chances of a home final.
With eight games remaining in the season Ferguson refused to get ahead of himself however preferring to concentrate on one match at a time.
"I've always said it and it-s the same old cliché but its one game at a time for us," Ferguson said.
"We've now put ourselves in a fantastic position in fourth place and long may it continue. "We need to keep getting the wins to secure us in the top six."