Perth Glory 0
Wolves 1 (Ebanks-Blake 2)
An early goal from Sylvan Ebanks-Blake saw Wolves home in their friendly with Perth Glory. But the win was soured with the news that Chris Iwelumo had broken a metatarsal in his right foot and that he looks certain to miss the start of the season.
It took just two minutes for Ebanks-Blake to get off the mark. The striker hit the post with his first effort after Iwelumo had flicked on George Elokobi's long throw, but last season's top scorer made no mistake when he latched onto the rebound and poked the ball into the net (pictured).
Mile Sterjovski almost hit back within two minutes but he was wide from 22-yards after teeing himself up for a volley.
Christophe Berra was too high with a header after a cross from Kevin Foley, before Iwelumo was carried from the pitch after an innocuous challenge with Jacob Burns.
Perth went close when Wayne Srhoj got plenty of power behind his shot but Wayne Hennessey was well positioned to save.
Karl Henry's drive was deflected into the side netting after Matt Jarvis had rolled a corner back to him on the edge of the box, and then Hennessey was quickly off his line to smother the ball at the feet of Sterjovski who had been played in by Andy Todd.
The home defence had difficulty in clearing a Matt Jarvis corner before Stephen Ward drew a fine save from Tando Velaphi. But the keeper couldn't hold onto the ball and Andy Surman ran in to hit a shot against the foot of the post from the acutest of angles.
Todd was spoken to by the referee after clattering into the back of Ebanks-Blake, as the game retained its competitive edge.
Half-Time: Perth 0 Wolves 1
Wolves made seven changes to their line-up at the interval and there was a worry for one of them when Greg Halford went down with what looked like a hamstring injury. But he soon recovered and didn't require treatment.
Andy Keogh, who had been a lively figure since his introduction in place of Iwelumo, shot over from the outside of the box after bypassing two defenders.
In the 63rd minute the Irish striker went a lot closer when he cut in from the right wing and unleashed an angled shot that smacked against the underside of the bar and bounced down before being cleared by the Perth defence.
A misplaced David Edwards pass was intercepted by Eugine Dadi who quickly transferred the ball to Million Butshire in the Wolves box. He turned to get a shot in but Marcus Hahnemann had spotted the danger and he pounced on the ball.
With two minutes left Keogh hit a tremendous volley from all of 40-yards that was destined for the top corner until Velaphi pulled off an equally good save as he fingertipped the ball away.
Then, just before the close, Scott Neville cleared Halford's header off the line following Edwards's corner.
Glory: Velaphi, Downey (Neville 50), Coyne (Sekulovski 74), Todd, Harnwell, Burns (Fondyke 85), Sikora (Bulloch 45), Srhoj, Dadi, Pellegrino (Pearson 79), Sterjovski (Butshire 45).
Unused subs: Griffiths, Evans, Feely.
Wolves: Hennessey (Hahnemann 45), Foley (Stearman 45), Elokobi (Hill 45), Henry (Edwards 45), Craddock (Zubar 61), Berra (Balde 61), Jarvis (Halford 45), Surman (Miliaš 61), Ebanks-Blake (Doyle 45), Iwelumo (Keogh 17), Ward (Friend 45).
Unused sub: Vokes.
Referee: C. Zetter (Sydney).
Attendance: 11,083.
