Perth Glory veteran Jamie Harnwell produced a slick headed goal from a Mitchell Prentice free kick to force a 1-1 draw with Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium.

The 30-year-old defender-cum-striker netted his fifth goal of the season in the 69th minute after Adelaide defender Richie Alagich had fired the home aside ahead with a brilliant ground shot in the 40th minute before more than 10,000 fans.

The second draw of the season between the two teams kept Adelaide in third spot on the A-League ladder - for now - while Perth stay bottom.

Adelaide looked likely to surge out of a mini slump when 34-year-old Alagich raced onto a through ball from fellow defender Robert Cornthwaite in the 40th minute and rifled in his second goal of the season from just inside the penalty area.

But Perth surged back in the second half despite Harnwell having to switch to defence just before halftime when Ante Kovacevic went off injured.

The tall defender was valiant throughout and marked his 200th top flight match with his expert headed goal despite having his head heavily bandaged to cover four stitches after an earlier clash with Cornthwaite's boot.

Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar had been forced to ring the changes with Olyroos Nathan Burns and Kristian Sarkies arriving back from Asia just hours before kick-off and experienced trio Cassio, Diego and Jonas Salley also missing.

In a tense battle of two teams struggling to hit goals in recent matches, both failed to test the `keepers until Dez Giraldi produced an excellent overhead shot which Perth custodian Tom Tomich just parried away at full stretch in the 22nd minute.

But United still went into the lead by halftime when Alagich broke through with a cool, low finish that zoomed into the net via his cultured right foot to keep the big crowd humming.

Perth stormed back into it after the interval when substitute Nikita Rukavytsya drove a firm shot just over the crossbar from 15 minutes in the 46th minute.

Perth's new coach David Mitchell, who had to direct traffic from the grandstand as punishment for kicking a water bottle onto the pitch last match, watched captain Simon Colisimo fire over the crossbar in the 79th minute after beating a defender.

Adelaide sub Issy Erdogan fired the ball into the net in injury time but referee Peter O'Leary denied him a dream winner by calling a foul on a team-mate.

"The boys were courageous tonight," Harnwell said.

"They put in a great effort and I'm thrilled to have scored for them in my 200th game.

"We lost our way a little in the first half but came back hard and maybe could have snatched something more in the second."

Mitchell said the draw was probably a fair result.

"We probably lacked a little quality with the final ball tonight but I was pleased with the effort," he said.

"We're just disappointed with the goal we conceded as we talked about that situation (with Alagich getting forward) during the week and we still got stung by it."

Adelaide coach Aurelio Vidmar said his team were still making too many basic mistakes.

"We were in and out of the game," he said.

"I'm disappointed with their goal as we talked at halftime about Perth's strengths at free-kicks and corners and that's how they've scored."

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