Carlos Hernandez opened the scoring for Melbourne - and himself - with a scorching goal that almost ripped out the back of the net.

Archie Thompson added a second when he got his leg on the end of a Roddy Vargas header, but Jamie Harnwell gave Glory hope with a goal late in the first half.

In the second half, Glory totally dominated Victory in a reversal of the first 45, but were unable to convert that into points on the scoreboard, leaving them still last on the A-League ladder.

However, the result did little to alleviate concern over the Victory’s troubled defence, as it again showed signs of fragility when placed under sustained pressure.

But after missing last week’s 4-1 humiliation against Adelaide through suspension and injury respectively, the midfield duo of Grant Brebner and Leigh Broxham returned to the Victory line-up and made an instant impact.

The pair dictated play in the centre, adding some desperately needed steel and cover while providing the drive when pushing forward.

And at the business end of Victory's squad, Carlos Hernandez finally delivered on his promise and reputation having only shown glimpses of his true potential during the first third of the season.

He took a starring role as he cast the Glory defence into disarray, unleashing his arsenal of trickery in front of an appreciative home crowd of 25,598 to open the scoring.

The Costa Rican international was hardly recognisable compared to his previously lifeless and unenergetic appearances, which had struggled under the weight of expectation and inadequate fitness.

Melbourne looked in ominous form early on, with Thompson firing in a shot after only two minutes of play, but after 11 minutes, the quality of A-League officiating was again called into question.

Referee Simon Przydacz denied Melbourne a certain penalty after Thompson was brought down in the area by a clumsy Jamie Coyne challenge when the Socceroo only had ‘keeper Tando Velaphi to beat.

Broxham's midfield marshalling later orchestrated a swift counter attack when he threaded a brilliant through ball into the path of Joe Keenan who proceeded to play a well weighted ball into the path of Danny Allsopp.

But the team’s stand-in captain was unable to convert the opportunity despite only having Velaphi to beat, scuffing his first time shot into the grateful arms of the ‘keeper.

Victory soon took the lead in the 26th minute when Hernandez delivered his first goal of the season in masterful fashion.

After controlling a looping pass, Hernandez back-heeled the ball into the path of Thompson, before receiving the return pass, cutting inside and blasting a thunderbolt into the roof of the net.

Melbourne doubled its advantage eight minutes later from the set piece when Thompson deflected Roddy Vargas’ goal bound header past Velaphi to score his fourth goal of the season.

Despite the seemingly fatal double blow, Glory were undeterred, launching a dominant period of its own.

Winger James Downey was a troublesome presence down the right flank, using his pace and slight of foot to glide past opposing fullback Keenan and play a number of dangerous balls into the area.

Ironically though, it was a ball from the left that produced Perth’s reply in the 43rd minute, as defender-turned-striker, Harnwell scored his second goal in as many weeks, diverting a cross pass Theoklitos after being left unmarked perilously in the area.

Perth built on this momentum early in the second half as Downey again proved a troublesome presence while full back Nikolai Topor-Stanley pushed forward on the left flank, attempting to exploit Melbourne’s lack of an established right back.

In a genuine game of two halves, Perth dominated the second half after spending most of the first 45 on the backfoot.

Ron Smith opted to make a number of tactical changes at the break and in doing so managed to maintain the momentum that had clearly swung the visitors’ way towards the end of the first-half.

Anthony Danze replaced Tyler Simpson, with the former Crystal Palace man taking up a central midfield position allowing Simon Colosimo to move into the back four, with Jamie Coyne deployed to right-back and Jimmy Downey pushed forward into right midfield.

Immediately Glory took the initiative and became as dominant at the start of the second-half as their hosts had been at the start of the first.

Sekulovski fired high and wide on 57 minutes and moments later Harnwell’s abrasive presence forced Theoklitos into a handling error that almost allowed the lurking James Robinson to pounce.

Coyne and Downey were enjoying plenty of space and time down the right-hand side of the field, with Melbourne restricted to the occasional quick fire breakaway, but Glory just could not manage to find the decisive final ball needed to unpick the home side’s defence.

Nick Rizzo and Nikita Rukavytsya were thrown into the fray as the second-half wore on and both forced saves from overworked home ‘keeper Theoklitos.

The Ukrainian-born striker was presented with a gilt-edged chance in the 85th minute, but his low shot from the edge of the area was dealt with easily by Theoklitos.

With the Shed Supporters Group providing a large and vocal Glory presence in the Telstra Dome stands, Perth continued to find avenues into the box to give fans hope an equaliser was on the cards.

However, their belated attempts to find a breakthrough proved fruitless.

It was a brave fightback by the Perth side but not enough to earn them a share of the points as the search for their first win of the season continues.