DODD SCORES ON DEBUT

Prized recruit Travis Dodd has scored a stunning goal on his debut for Perth Glory this afternoon at Hay Park in Bunbury.

Dodd capped off a classy performance with his 54^th minute strike as Perth Glory defeated Football West First division side Bunbury Force 3-1 in a pre season practice match.

“We got what we wanted out of the game and that was obviously fitness in our first hit-out,” Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson said.

“I was happy with Bunbury, they gave us a very hard game which was good, so I was delighted with that.”

Adam Taggart and Tommy Amphlett also found the back of the net but it was Dodd’s second half bomb that thrilled the crowd of 1500.

With the game locked at 1-all, the former Socceroo unleashed a sweet shot, on his left foot from 25 yards that flew past the Force ‘keeper.

Dodd was also instrumental in the first half with his raids down the right side setting up numerous chances for Perth Glory.

Playing up front in the absence of Shane Smeltz, Taggart opened the scoring on 43 minutes when he neatly tucked away Dodd’s precise cross from close range.

Two minutes later, Taggart was unlucky not to have a second goal when he again got himself onto the end of a Dodd cross, only to see his header crash onto the cross bar.

In total, Ferguson made 8 changes in the second half, as the Glory coach got a glimpse of the future with a handful of teenagers from the National Training Centre getting a chance to impress.

Tommy Amphlett capped of the win for Perth in the 90^th minute when he coolly finished a through ball.

Adam Hughes also impressed on debut in the centre of midfield alongside Jacob Burns while new goal keeper Danny Vukovic was barely tested.

Perth Glory 3                (TAGGART 43’, DODD 54’ AMPHLETT 90’)

Bunbury Force 1          (Fontanille 48’)

Perth Glory line up: 1.Danny Vukovic (James Oakey 82’), 2.Josh Mitchell (Sam Mitchinson 72’), 7.Jacob Burns (c) (Reece Vittiglia 63’), 8.Adam Hughes (Brandon O’Neil 63’), 13 Travis Dodd (Amphlett 58’), 14.Steven McGarry, 17.Todd Howarth (Hanafi Ghazali 72’), 18.Josh Risdon, 21.Mile Sterjovski (Blamo Quaqua 63’), 22.Adam Taggart (Scott Neville 58’), 24.Charlie Comyn-platt.

Travis Dodd

Fresh from taking his place in the first Australian side to reach the quarter finals of the Asian Champions League, Adelaide United captain Travis Dodd made the trip to the South East to kick-off Reconciliation Week.
• The Round Ball co-ordinated the entire event and worked with the Education Department District Office, the City of Mt Gambier Council and Jobfind to enable the widest audience possible.
• Pictured: Travis Dodd and Emma Hay (DECS) as a guest of the Pangula Mannamurna Aboriginal Health Service.

SOCCER HISTORY VISITS
MT GAMBIER

Adelaide United has become the first Hyundai A-League side to make the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League by recording a 0-0 draw with Changchun Yatai in China on Thursday and only hours after the final whistle the victorious captain boarded a series of planes that would return him to Adelaide and then today, his final destination, Mount Gambier.
So how can it be that the captain of the first team in Australian soccer history to achieve such a milestone can be in Mount Gambier only days after such a monumental achievement? “It has been over four months in the making and in fact if you count the initial idea to bring a high profile football star to Mount Gambier, we started planning 9 months ago” states local soccer enthusiast and Director for Coaching for The Round Ball, Scott Dickson.
“Travis Dodd is at the top of his game and is a current superstar of the A League and Socceroo, when the opportunity arose to bring a current player his name was the top of our list. He is an outstanding athlete who displays leadership both on and off the pitch and added to this is the fact that he is Indigenous. When we started to discuss dates, his management indicated that he had this week free and it coincided with Reconciliation Week, the fact that history was made on Thursday night no one could have predicted but it shows we have luck on our side”
With the match rescheduled due to the three day period of national mourning, which started last Monday in China after the earthquake, it was a rushed trip home for the squad. However despite the fantastic result the catastrophic nature of the disaster wasn’t lost on Dodd on who commented on the disaster before the kick off.
“And that is one of the reasons we wanted to bring Travis. He is articulate and well spoken, he is passionate about his culture and is an advocate for the Indigenous Community.” said Dickson. The fact that we have been able to arrange Travis to come in contact with over ten local schools and provide several opportunities for members of the wider community to meet him I think we have done a great job. Without the help of the Mount Gambier City Council, the Limestone Coast District Office, Jobfind Centres and the Blue Lake Caravan Park we would not have been able to pull it off and I am very grateful for their support.”
Aboriginal Education Co-ordinator for the Limestone Coast Emma Hay is keen to promote the historic event and has extended an invitation to the entire community “To 'kick off' Reconciliation Week Celebrations a free community breakfast will be held at Pangula Mannamurna, Commercial Street West, Mt Gambier. Breakfast will available from 8.30am with Travis being officially welcomed to Boandik Country from our local Aboriginal elders and youth at 9am. All members of our local community are invited and welcome to attend.”
The tour of the Limestone Coast will commence today with the community breakfast and then he will visit McDonald Park Primary School, Melaleuca Park K7 Schools, and the Nangwarry School cluster and then the next day he will visit Grant High School, Mount Gambier High School, North Gambier Primary and Mulga Street Primary.
Tuesday night will see the showcase event, A night of Inspiration with Travis Dodd and with only a handful of tickets remaining for the event at the Linksview Golf Club at 6.30 pm, it is clear to see the event has captured the communities imagination. Dickson conclude by saying “Nearly everyone we asked has supported the iniative and the results speak for themselves. It may be an overused cliché however it is true in this case Football really is the winner.”