Perth Glory, the beaten National Soccer League Grand Finalists in the 2001-2 season, ended the Football Kingz brief reign at the top of the 2002-3 competition at Ericsson Stadium on October 6, downing the Kiwi contenders 1-0 before a disappointing crowd of 3282.      Those who chose other pursuits on an absolutely gorgeous Auckland day missed what, in the end, was a disappointing spectacle, given the Kingz pursuit of the long ball against a tall backline, and, in the first half especially, the lack of quality in Perth's passing game.      A disjointed affair was the outcome, one which saw just one noteworthy shot on goal inside the first half hour. It was struck by Perth's Andre Gumprecht, a twenty-five yard volley following a cleared Bradley Hassell corner which sizzled goalwards, and brought the very best out of the flying figure of Michael Utting, who was at full stretch in turning the shot round the post.      Another Hassell corner caused the Kingz problems just after the half-hour mark, David Tarka's near post flick requiring a goal-line clearance by Mark Atkinson before Jamie Harnwell could pounce on the far post.      The home team responded well, and could well have gone to  the dressing rooms a goal to the good, had Chilean international Patricio Almendra enjoyed better fortune in front of the target.      The Kingz striker, who copped more than his fair share of rough stuff from the uncompromising Perth defence, came close to punishing them in the best possible manner in the 34th minute, when he rattled the side-netting with a rasping twenty-five yard drive, following a short free-kick from Jeff Campbell.      Chris Jackson came closer still four minutes before the interval, shaving a post with a full-blooded eighteen-yarder, after working the neatest of one-twos with Harry Ngata, Atkinson the initial source of the move.      Ngata himself saw a goalbound rocket ricochet to safety off Andy Vlahos in the shadows of the half-time whistle, but it was a more focused Perth combination which emerged for the second spell.      Damian Mori signalled their intentions twice inside the first five minutes of the half, setting his sights with a vicious volley which flashed across the face of the diving Utting's goal, then going closer still with a shot which again brought the best out of the Kingz custodian, after the most lethal goalscorer in NSL history had stolen in behind the well-performed Hiroshi Miyazawa.      In the 58th minute, Mori edged another goal closer to his two hundredth goal in NSL history, as he evaded the offside trap to steal in on the blindside of half-time substitute Johnny Foundoulakis and latch onto a defence-splitting pass from the eye-catching Hassell. Utting raced off his line to reduce the threat Mori posed, but committed himself, allowing the goal machine to slot the ball around the diving 'keeper and into the bottom left-hand corner.      Stung, the league leaders looked to retaliate in like manner almost instantly, Jason Petkovic having to be alert to keep out a well-struck Almendra free-kick on the hour mark. But Perth were now assuming control of midfield, with Hassell in particular dictating terms.      Both Mori and the midfielder were superbly denied by Utting in the 61st minute, after Bobby Despotovski had inspired a Perth counter-attack which found the retreating Kingz outnumbered by their opponents. Utting's second save to deny Hassell saw the rebound return to the playmaker, whose shot was blocked to safety by Steven Turner, who did little wrong in coming off the bench to make his Kingz debut.

Two minutes later, Hassell again prised open the Kingz rearguard, releasing Despotovski down the left at pace. His understanding with Mori was clearly evident as the latter drifted off his marker, Jonathan Taylor, on the far post, then nipped inside the defender to meet Despotovski's cross with a stooping header. Unfortunately for Perth, the ball flew past the target on this occasion. Hassell and Mori again sliced open the Kingz defence in the 67th minute, the latter presenting the former with a shooting chance ten yards out. Utting's reflex save was stunning, but the goal-line clearance of the rebound by Atkinson, facing his own goal and with Despotovski breathing down his neck, was even more spectacular. The Kingz weathered the storm to launch a raid of their own twenty minutes from time. Ngata earned a throw-in on the right, and quickly released Vlahos, who teased and tormented two challengers before setting up Jackson for a shot which required a crisply struck hard-and-low twenty-yarder … which ended up being well caught by the solitary figure in the back row of the south stand, after the ball had ballooned over the crossbar!! After Mori had had a second goal disallowed for offside, the Kingz inability to get numbers in support of Ngata inside the penalty area was exposed inside the last ten minutes, as crosses from Vlahos and Almendra were cleaned up by the Perth defence, while Ngata himself was unable to capitalise on a Petkovic error, after the goalkeeper had fumbled a hanging up-and-under from Vlahos. It was the Kingz last real chance, as the pace of Matt Horsley carved open the Kingz left flank twice in the last five minutes. Hassell released the speedster in the 86th minute, and his low cross into the goal area was somehow lifted over the crossbar by Scott Miller. Horsley himself rifled a volley into the sidenetting in stoppage time, after Gary Faria had picked out his blindside run to the far post. Perth's assistant coach, former New Zealand international Alan Vest, was well pleased with the result, one his side had to grind out. "It was a 100% improvement on last week's defensive performance", he said, referring to Brisbane Strikers' 4-3 win at Perth last Sunday, "but it's one I felt we could have won by more, save for Michael Utting". Kingz coach Ken Dugdale, whom Vest brought out to New Zealand some thirty years ago - this was the first time the two had been in opposing dug-outs since that time - was a little frustrated by his side's display. "We didn't play enough to feet. That said, Perth knew what they were doing, and didn't allow us to play our normal game. We were forced to switch to a four-man defence, as they pushed players forward, and that reflected in our performance. "Chris Jackson had an off-day, while Raf de Gregorio, given his nose injury from last week, was tentative. And Jonathan Perry was out after picking up an injury against Northern Spirit which didn't flare up until Wednesday. It may yet require surgery - he's seeing a specialist tomorrow. "As for the crowd figure - crazy. Given the glorious weather, and the fact that you had the league leaders, who won 4-1 away last week, against last season's beaten Grand Finalists … it makes you wonder what people's priorities are!!" Kingz:          Utting; Van Steeden (Foundoulakis, 46), Miyazawa (booked, 72), Taylor (booked, 60); Atkinson (booked, 6), Jackson (booked, 8), de Gregorio (Turner, 59), Campbell (Urlovic, 66); Almendra, Ngata, Vlahos Perth:          Petkovic; Pryce (Mouhouti, 90), Harnwell (booked, 33), Tarka, Miller (booked, 11); Horsley, Gumprecht, Aldrighi, Hassell (Faria, 90); Mori, Despotovski (Mrdja, 85) Referee:     Con Diomis