A first-half Lachie Wales hat-trick set up a comfortable 6-0 victory for Western United over Perth Glory at UTAS Stadium.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Playing their first of two Launceston games for the week, United got back on the winners' list in fine style as Wales ran rampant.
"All in all it was a very good reaction from last week's loss," Western United coach John Aloisi said.
"We spoke about it at the beginning of the week that we needed a reaction and they did from Monday onwards.
"Our training has been at an intensity that we probably haven't trained at for a long, long time and the boys drove that, you could see they were embarrassed about last week and they wanted to put that right."
After a strong Perth start and a saved penalty by Glory captain Liam Reddy, Wales got a deflection of a Connor Pain strike for his first of the match and first of this year's A-League campaign.
A second followed just two minutes later, volleying one home following a header from experienced Glory defender Darryl Lachman that could only go as far as the in-form Wales.
After a Giodorno Colli yellow card, the night continued to get worse for Glory with Dylan Pierias reaping the rewards of Pain and Wales' efficient passing for the game's third.
Then, in first-half stoppage time, Ben Garuccio gave Wales some quality service to secure the hat-trick.
"He's been one of our consistent performers and Lachie works hard, he works hard for the team, he's been playing really well and setting up a lot of goals but he hadn't scored yet," he said.
"You don't want to say too much to a player that's looking for their first goal because they get a bit nervous about it but I said to him that all it takes is one goal and the goals will come.
"Sometimes it's one of those lucky ones and he got that. After that, his finishes were great."
Wales continued to be involved in the thick of the action, drawing a penalty at the expense of Anthony Burke-Gilroy.
Aleksandar Prijovic made up for the earlier saved penalty, finding the lower right corner to confirm a comfortable United win.
From there, coach John Aloisi put his prized cues in the rack, subbing off Neil Kilkenny, Prijovic, Wales, Pierias and Pain for Rene Krhin, Dylan Wenzel-Halls, Nicolas Milanovic, Adisu Bayew, and Jerry Skotadis.
That didn't stop the side's scoring though, with Wenzel-Halls making the most of a defender error to find the back of the net and score his first goal in four months.
Glory's interim manager Ruben Zadkovich was scathing in his post-match analysis.
"Certain individuals didn't want to go about the game the way they need to at this level and it cost the team, especially in the first half," he said.
"Basic fundamentals, and I'm not talking about the young, inexperienced players, I'm talking about some of our seasoned professionals."
Despite the result, Zadkovich was still able to see some positives, praising the never-say-die effort of Lachman, who was "coaching players around him in the 85th minute".
United return to UTAS Stadium on Tuesday night to face Macarthur FC at 5.05pm.
Josh Partridge
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
