St Albans veteran Felix Rosman was delighted with his side’s showing against A-League side Perth Glory in the FFA Cup on Tuesday, despite going down 4-1 at Knights Stadium.
A boisterous local crowd tried desperately to spur the Victorian team on to victory, but the visitors’ quality shone through with the likes of Nebojsa Marinkovic, Jamie Maclaren and Irish international Andy Keogh helping their team over the line.
The Saints also had to contend with a league game just over 48 hours prior, and the physical strain showed, with three of Perth’s four goals coming in the second half.
“[It was a] great night, we had a good turnout, the boys put in a good performance considering we also had to play a league game on Sunday – we were probably tired in that second half and were punished for a couple of errors,“ Rosman said.
“But the boys are proud of the effort, we gave it everything we had and there’s no regrets from our side.
“They’re full time, we’re part time, we’ve all got to go to work in the morning, but this is an experience we’ll all remember and we can look back on it in years to come.”
To our supporters, thank you for coming out in your thousands and creating an atmosphere we could only dream of. You were loud and proud.
— St Albans Saints (@albans_st) September 23, 2014
The 37-year-old towering defender was made to work hard on the night, but was pleased with the defensive structure that left Perth finding their goals the hard way – via free-kicks and audacious chips and lobs – to break down a determined Albans side buoyed by the home support.
“We set out to play a certain way and I thought in the first half we kept them [quiet]. Our keeper didn’t have a shot to save except for the goal they scored and that was probably a 50-50 free kick,” he said.
“These things tend to go to the bigger teams and we were punished but were proud of each and every one of the boys and a great night for the club and Victorian football.
“Great turnout, and when [Ryan] McGuffie scored the penalty, the roar – goosebumps – fantastic.
“I don’t think we were overawed at all, if anything it probably lifted us at the start and from our perspective it was really good to see people come along and support us tonight.”
Rosman also paid tribute to former coaches Toby Paterson and Steve Laurie, along with teammate Brodie Paterson – all departing the club in recent weeks – for their contribution to the club over the season.
“It’s been hard. Toby and Stevie were a big part of what we achieved here, its not something we wanted, it had nothing to do with the players, we just had to get on with it,” he said.
“Tonight, part of this is for Stevie and Toby and Brodie who were a big part of what we achieved, they couldn’t be here tonight but we had a job to do.”