You'll Never Walk Alone

"When you walk through a storm

hold your head up high

And don't be afraid of the dark.

At the end of a storm is a golden sky

And the sweet silver song of a lark.

Walk on through the wind,

Walk on through the rain,

Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown.

Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart

And you'll never walk alone,

You'll never, ever walk alone.

Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart

And you'll never walk alone,

You'll never, ever walk alone."
-Rodgers and Hammerstein (1945)/Liverpool


I know, I know. YNWA has become almost cliche. Yet the song made famous by the Liverpool Ultras is a fitting way to describe last night's match. The match attendance at NIB Stadium was just 5745, well short of the 16, 000 people who turned up for the first match of the season. Yet it was above the expected turnout of 4,000. On a hot Wednesday night, Glory coming off seven losses with not much hope for this match, overall better than expected. Certainly it was a better attendance than I expected.


It shows that while many will abandon the team when things turn sour, there are still many who will stand and walk by the team. It proves that Glory aren't alone. I must say, there were many a times when that 5, 000 crowd seemed louder than 10 or 11 thousand. Indeed most of those who were missing are content to only cheer when we score. To those of Perth; is that really what you want to be known as? A bunch of two faced supporters. Obviously you do.


Now onto the game. True to his word, Ferguson made a number of changes.
The lineup was as follows:
Velaphi
Neville-Todd-Griffiths-Coyne
Amphlett-Burns-Fondyke-Howarth
Sterjovski-Baird
Noticeable was the inclusions of young guns in Brent Griffiths, Howard Fondyke and Amphlett.


While the game itself was largely uneventful, Glory came out with a lot of energy, played with heart and played with the persistence and desperation that they have lacked. Led by Mile Sterjovski, Glory lifted and put pressure on the Melbourne defence.


The first solid attack came at about 10 minutes. Mile beat three defenders to the ball, got it to Howarth. A deep cross into the box was laid off to Amphlett, by Todd, but he couldn't capitalise.
On the whole, Melbourne Heart had to dig deep to stop Glory from scoring. A number of last ditch tackles were all that saved them. With Fondyke and Burns controlling the midfield, the wingers lively and the forwards pushing, it seemed only a matter of time. However, it was not to be. Sterjovski and Neville missed key chances and were, perhaps, unlucky in their attempts.


Half time came and went, and for a time so did Glory. Heart put a lot of pressure and it was our defense that had to dig deep. Griffiths and Todd were very impressive. Still the game wasn't over and Glory began to push up and create a few more chances. Sterjovski missed the best chance of the game, when he skied a cross from Baird. Then into stoppage time Babalj got onto a cross but his header smashed against the post, denying a winner for the visitors. The final score of 0-0 was fair enough and Glory will definitely take the point. The draw is just one step


Glory will stay at home for a game against the Wellington Phoenix. I hope that the rest of Perth can stand up and walk with us.