Diego Castro narrowly missed out on being crowned the A-League’s best player for a second straight year on Monday night as Perth Glory again had their thunder stolen by grand finalists Sydney FC.
Sky Blues marquee Milos Ninkovic claimed the Johnny Warren Medal after being awarded 44 points for the season – seven more than runner-up and last year’s winner in 34-year-old Castro.
Glory were not without their own triumphant moment, with captain Sam Kerr awarded the W-League’s highest honour.
Kerr, 23, received the Julie Dolan Medal as her league’s premier footballer in recognition of a stunning season where she scored 10 goals.
The Matildas forward was edged out by Canberra’s Ashleigh Sykes for the Golden Boot, but was the most influential figure in Glory’s surge to a second grand final in just over three years.
Glory coach Kenny Lowe had declared Castro as the A-League’s best and predicted the Spaniard would win a second Johnny Warren Medal in the build-up to his side’s 3-0 semifinal defeat to Sydney at Allianz Stadium.
An expert panel disagreed under a system where points are awarded on a 3-2-1 basis for every match.
Ninkovic, playing in his second season at Sydney, scored nine goals and contributed 10 assists as his team’s standout player in a season where the Sky Blues achieved a record A-League points tally.
Castro scored 12 goals and had six assists in another terrific campaign, but was unable to become the league’s first player to win back-to-back medals.
Glory now face a challenge to convince their international playmaker to recommit for a third season.
Three former Glory players also received awards.
Brisbane striker Jamie Maclaren was named young footballer of the year, Sydney’s Danny Vukovic the league’s best goalkeeper and Glory’s Bobby Despotovski was crowned the W-League’s top coach.
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