Perth Glory's All Whites striker Shane Smeltz's needed plastic surgery in a Brisbane hospital last night after a sickening collision with the Brisbane Roar captain Matt Smith during the A-League grand final, won 2-1 by Brisbane.
Smeltz copped an accidental elbow from Smith in the 15th minute of the match which split the skin from his nose to his lip, and the inside of his mouth, and also gave him a suspected broken nose.
Play was stopped for four minutes as medics worked to stem the bleeding, but Smeltz, the -league's all-time leading scorer played the full 90 minutes.
