Perth Glory kept a clean sheet for the second game running while continuing on its winning way in Malaysia with a big 4-nil victory against Super League outfit Perak on Tuesday night.

A first half double to young striker Nikita Rukavytsya gave Perth the perfect opening while last season’s golden boot winner, Jamie Harnwell, finished the job with two quality finishes of his own deep into the second stanza.

Glory dominated possession from the opening whistle and could have been further in front after the ball barely left their attacking half for the first 25 minutes of the match.

While the players have quickly adapted to the energy sapping conditions since their arrival in Malaysia just over a week ago, the tricky pitch at Stadium Ipoh was proving a tougher assignment for both sides.

Persistent rain in the week leading up to Tuesday night’s match saw the usually immaculate surface take a hammering which affected the quality of play.

“It wasn’t the prettiest game of football you’ll ever see but I was happy that we were able to put together several good periods where we dominated possession and took our chances to score,” said Glory Coach Ron Smith.

“Backing up from our match on Saturday night was always going to be a big test because of the heat and humidity up here and I thought the lads showed the benefits of a solid pre-season fitness program to be able to run out the game,” he added.

Perth used 20 players to combat the stifling conditions with defender David Tarka and goal keeper Tando Velaphi the only players to see out the full 90 minutes.

Kiwi international Leo Bertos started on the right wing and played 70 minutes after missing Saturday’s match with a slight groin strain while Nick Rizzo enjoyed a solid hit out in his second appearance for the Glory.

Glory’s new look strike force was on show with the coach playing three up front throughout the match.  It’s a formation that has paid dividends so far with a heap of opportunities being created and seven (7) goals hitting the back of the net in the club’s two tour matches.

Smith not afraid to throw caution to the wind in his attempts to score more goals in what could be an exciting pointer of things to come for Perth in the new Hyundai A-League season.

While at the other end the club’s defence, which boasts the outstanding talents of Tarka, Velaphi and Nikolai Topor-Stanley to name a few, is proving to be a tough nut to crack with two clean sheets to their credit.

“Dave (Mitchell) and I have been able to shuffle the side around a bit because we have more flexibility in the squad this season,” said Smith.

“We have been pleased with what we have seen already and we will continue to try various combinations in our next couple of matches,” Smith added.

Match Details

Perth Glory      4 (Rukavytsya 3’ & 12’, Harnwell 84’ & 88’)
Perak               0

Tuesday 26 June, 2007 at Stadium Ipoh, Perak; kick-off 8.45pm

Perth Glory Squad: Tando VELAPHI (gk), Milan SUSAK* (Mitchell PRENTICE* 45’), David TARKA, Dino DJUBLIC (Jamie COYNE 45’), Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY (Matthew WARDLE 45’), Leo BERTOS (Billy CELESKI 70’), David MICEVSKI (Simon COLOSIMO 70’), Anthony DANZE (Naum SEKULOVSKI 45’), Nikita RUKAVYTSYA (Jimmy DOWNEY 45’), Mate DRAGICEVIC (Jamie HARNWELL 70’), Nick RIZZO (Phil ARNOLD* 70’)

* trialist