Western put Glory to the sword

WESTERN United have kept hopes of an A-League Men premiership alive with a 6-0 thumping of Perth which left Glory interim-boss Ruben Zadkovich warning there’ll “repercussions” for some of his seasoned players.

A first-half hat-trick from Lachie Wales combined with goals from Dylan Pierias, Aleksandar Prijovic, and Dylan Wenzel-Halls secured United’s win in Launceston on Saturday, closing closes the gap on Melbourne City to five points with two games in hand.

“We wanted to be in this position at the start of the season and we knew we would have to work hard to put ourselves in this position,” United boss John Alosi said.

Saturday’s margin of victory represented United’s biggest ever while also equalling the worst loss in Glory’s history.

Effectively forced to play much of their youth team due to injuries, Glory remain eight points adrift at the foot of the ALM table and look certain to record a first-ever wooden spoon.

His simmering anger clear, Zadkovich singled out the performance of Darryl Lachman for praise but said that other veteran members of his side had abdicated their responsibilities in the loss.

“Certain individuals didn’t want to go about the game the way they need to at this level and it cost the team,” he said.

“And I’m not talking about the young and inexperienced players. I’m talking about some of our seasoned professionals.

“When the chips are down and things get really difficult, you’ve got to want to fight and you’ve got to compete. Some players didn’t.

“I’m bitterly disappointed. I’m fuming. And there will be repercussions for some people.”

Coming off a 4-1 defeat to Wellington and with just one win in their last five, the result was a perfect pick-me-up for United.

“All in all, it was a great reaction from last week’s loss,” said Aloisi.

“You could see that they were embarrassed about last week and they wanted to put it right.”

Two goals in two minutes from Wales had United flying inside the opening half an hour at UTAS Stadium before Pierias made it 3-0 in the 34th.

Wales completed his hat-trick in first-half injury time when he met a Garrucio cross and Prijovic and Wenzel-Halls added second-half goals to make sure that Glory’s misery was complete.

With City on Asian Champions League duty in Thailand, another win against Macarthur FC in Tasmania on Tuesday will have Aloisi’s team just two points behind in the premiership race with a game in hand.

While that would set up a grandstand finish for the two clubs in the final weeks of the season, Aloisi insists his team is focused on the bigger picture.

“We’re not talking about that yet,” Aloisi said. “I know that’s one thing the media will talk about because it’s there but as a team and the playing group we’re just making sure we’re focused on each game.

“The next game is the most important, which is Macarthur, and we’ve got a bit of a break after that.

“We’re hoping – and we’ll do our best – if we perform well to get the result we want and then we’ve got three big games in the last weeks of the season.”

The comfortable victory margin over the Glory allowed Aloisi to give players an early mark as he used all five substitutes, ensuring his squad is fit and firing for the visit of the Bulls to UTAS Stadium.

“Macarthur are a tough team. Even when they’re not playing well, they seem to be able to get results,” Aloisi said.

“They’re coached very well by Ante Milicic so it’s going to be a tough game.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge.”