After a fortnight in the stifling heat of Malaysia, Perth Glory returned home to cold, wet and windy conditions only to see their recent run of wins ended at the hands of Perth SC.

Outplayed in the opening half and down two goals, the Glory rallied in the second half with former Perth SC striker Nikita Rukavytsya scoring against his former side to take his tally to six goals in the club’s last four outings.

Glory went into the clash missing new star signings Mate Dragicevic and Nikolai Topor-Stanley while Jimmy Downey and Leo Bertos were was given time to recover from niggling injuries leaving coach Ron Smith with just 12 bodies to choose from.

A heavy downpour swept across Dorrien Gardens just after kick-off making the conditions challenging for all players. The slippery ball playing a part in the opening goal with Glory keeper Tommi Tomich spilling Andreas Oliviera’s shot from close range which snuck over the line.

Perth SC doubled their lead in the 39th minute when Barry Wood headed past an advancing Tomich after a delicate chip from Oliviera.

Coach Ron Smith replaced Nicky Rizzo with David Micevski after the break and tinkered with the formation which worked well for Glory as they dominated possession thereafter.

“The first half was disappointing from a number of aspects and we didn’t adapt well to the way they lined-up but we changed it in the second half and did everything but score two or three goals,” Smith said

Glory did pull one back with a stunning 30 yard strike from Rukavytsya which found its way through a sea of defenders and into the bottom corner of the net. He could have made it two a short time later with a wonderfully taken overhead strike but it was blocked on the line.

“The heat and humidity in Malaysia forces you to play a slower tempo game and I think we continued with that here tonight and we were caught out,” said Smith

“I was happy with the second half performance and we have some time now to let some of the lads recover from a tough period where we have played four matches in seven days.

“We’ll work on a few things this week and are looking forward to getting back out on the pitch against another quality local outfit next Tuesday,” Smith added.

Perth Glory’s next assignment is against Football West Premier league leaders Floreat Athena at Litis Stadium on 10 July – kick off 7.00pm.

Perth Glory 1 (Rukavytsya 52’)
Perth SC 2 (Oliviera 21’, Wood 39’)
Tuesday 3 July, 2007 at Dorrien Gardens – kick off 7.00pm

Perth Glory: Tommi TOMICH (gk), David TARKA, Simon COLOSIMO, Jamie HARNWELL, Dino DJUBLIC, Anthony DANZE, Billy CELESKI, Nikita RUKAVYTSYA, Jamie COYNE, Nick RIZZO (David MICEVSKI 45’), Naum SEKULOVSKI.