Adam Griffiths made it abundantly clear what his new year’s resolutions are following Sunday’s 3-1 triumph over Melbourne City: clear messaging and being more in tune with emotion and feeling.
Less focus on stats can be added to the list. His press conference highlights continue to grow, just as his players’ confidence is growing each and every week.
Knocking off the reigning champions on their home turfmight not have propelled the Glory up the table too much, but it was a statement win to put the competition on notice.
Melbourne Victory are the form team in the league right now, on a three match winning run which has them within reach of the top six.
They’ve found their mojo, as have the Glory. The landscape at both clubs has changed drastically since they last met on Halloween at HBF Park.
The last three meetings in the league have ended 2-0 in favour of the Victory. Remember though, the lion doesn’t concern himself with stats.
The hattrick heroes: who comes out on top?
The third and fourth hattricks for the season were both scored in Round 10, and now the two men who scored them will face off at the same venue where they netted their triples.
After going 15 games without a goal, Nikos Vergos has surged to the equal top of the golden boot race with 5 goals in his last three appearances.
The Greek striker’s sudden uptick in finishing has coincided with Victory’s resurgence in results. Before netting his first goal of the season vs Adelaide, Arthur Diles’ side had gone four games without scoring and were sitting on the bottom of the table.
On the other side, the Glory had come off two defeats at home without threatening greatly in attack. The majority of the load and responsibility fell on the shoulders of Tom Lawrenceagainst Melbourne City, and boy did he deliver.
It was a breakthrough performance for the Welshman, underlying his immense talent after weeks of impressive displays without getting on the scoresheet.
Vergos and Lawrence are clearly the best avenues to goal and will lead the way for their respective sides. Whoever can back up their heroics from last week will most likely be the hero in this clash.
Is Luke Amos ready?
Of the big name players Glory signed in 2025, only one remains who hasn’t featured in the league this season.
Luke Amos’ absence hasn’t been felt as greatly as many would have feared, thanks to the pickup of Rhys Bozinovski and the ever improving Will Freney, both of whom have starred under Adam Griffiths.
The Englishman has been named in the extended squad forthis game. Training footage showed him heavily involved in one of the drills, a real positive for Glory fans around the country.
Whether he is ready to go or not remains to be seen. Luckily, there is more than enough cover available if the former Spurs product needs more time.
Rushing him back is not required when the likes of Bozinovski, Freney, Nicholas Pennington and Giovanni De Abreu are fit and firing.
I wouldn’t anticipate a return to action yet. If all goes right it shouldn’t be far away, and he will be a valuable addition who could help take the Glory to another level.
And for the Glory girls…
Will they be resolute in defence again?
Melbourne City away is the toughest place to go for an A-League women’s side. The Glory shouldn’t feel too disheartened with the result on Sunday, a 3-1 defeat courtesy of a Holly McNamara hattrick.
A mistake right on half-time gifted City a two-goal lead going into the break. The other two goals were a result of direct through balls to McNamara who was then able to beat the Glory centre-backs for pace.
The challenge Newcastle pose on Saturday is different. The Jets are very strong in wide areas, possessing attacking talent in the form of India Breier, Melina Ayres and Kelli Brown.
Glory’s two games at the Sam Kerr Football Centre have been characterised by resilient defending. To make it three wins in a row at home, they will need to be on guard against a side with multiple attacking weapons.
Predicted lineup
Lawrence – Sulemani
Pennington – Freney – Bozinovski – Ostler
Sutton – Wootton – Kaltak – Shamoon
Sutton
All images courtesy of Tom McCarthy.
