Soccer: All Whites' final chance

Shane Smeltz or Michael McGlinchey will have the chance to join Kosta Barbarouses as the second All White to be in a winning Hyundai A-League team. Star striker Smeltz will line up for Perth Glory against minor premier Central Coast Mariners in Saturday's preliminary final at Gosford's Bluetongue Stadium, while McGlinchey will again be in the heart of the Mariners midfield Barbarouses was in the Brisbane Roar side who beat the Mariners on penalties after last season's grand final ended 2-2. This season's final will be back at Suncorp Stadium - where 50,000 fans watched last year's final - after the Roar's 5-2 win on aggregate slammed the door on the Mariners' hopes of hosting the final. For Central Coast it is a case of rallying from successive losses to the Roar to win through to a fourth grand final still in search of their first triumph. It will not be easy against the team who have been the best in the league this season despite failing to get up and claim the Premiers Plate as they did last season, with an eight-point regular season margin over the Mariners. It has not been an easy run in for the Roar who had a midweek Asian Champions League trip to South Korea before returning to do the business in front of a 9846-strong crowd in Gosford. Perth, chasing their first grand final appearance, have not had the same distractions and will have an extra day to prepare for Saturday's eliminator. "There's a real resilience in those players," said Roar coach Ange Postecoglou after Sunday's win. "The players in many respects were running on empty but we didn't want to limp into the grand final. We went out to win this match and the players deserve a lot of credit for how they went about it."