Soccer: Knights squander chances

Manager John Adshead says he felt for his players after the New Zealand Knights went down 1-0 against Perth Glory in Auckland last night, despite creating a hatful of chances.

The Knights were made to pay for failing to capitalise on a dominant first-half display, falling to a goal by Glory skipper Jamie Harnwell with just over 20 minutes to go.

Adshead described the Knights' performance as a huge improvement on their 4-0 defeat away to Newcastle last Sunday.

It had come after a difficult build-up, in which his selection options were narrowed by injury to three key players -- skipper Danny Hay, striker Simon Yeo and goalkeeper Danny Milosevic.

"We got hammered last week," he said.

"The step up we've made after what we went through is massive."

But the overriding feeling remained one of disappointment at a result that left the Knights at the foot of the table.

"I'm just disappointed for the players," Adshead said.

"The way we played, the shape we played, everything we asked them to do they did, and there was just no reward at the end of the day."

In an eventful first half, the Knights created numerous chances.

The best fell to striker Joshua Rose, who had one shot saved superbly by Perth keeper Jason Petkovic, and hit another against the crossbar from close range.

Just before the break, Perth gave a hint of what was to come when a quick breakaway resulted in Glory midfielder Naum Sekulovski finding himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Glen Moss.

Moss, who had a solid league debut, pulled off a fine save.

Perth stepped up the pace in the second half and Harnwell finally broke the deadlock during a goalmouth scramble in 68th minute .

Like Adshead, skipper Neil Emblen was left frustrated at the Knights' inability to finish.

"We just needed a goal first half," he said.

"I think that would have settled everybody down. The formation we were playing was working. It was frustrating them. It just needed one of those chances to go in."

Perth coach Steve McMahon was just happy to leave North Harbour Stadium with a victory.

"It was a hard fought 1-0 and you will take that any day of the week away from home," he said.

"We were up against it in the first half and they will be aggrieved that they never went in at least two goals ahead, because they had great opportunities. But you have to take your chances."

The result lifted Perth to third in standings, although the three other matches in round five are still to be played.

McMahon said it was too early to read too much into where teams were lying on the table.

"It's a bit like playing snakes and ladders at the moment -- you get three points you go up, you get beat the next week you go back down," he said.

"It's all over the place. Give it 10 games and we should be able to get a handle on where everybody is. But teams are capable of beating each other, that's plain to see."

- NZPA