The PGFC Academy Under-20s secured the club’s first ever State League Reserves Cup on Saturday, courtesy of a hard-fought, 2-1 win over Sorrento at Dorrien Gardens.
A first-half double from Abias Bukuru put the youngsters in control, before an own-goal from ‘keeper Nic Speca gave Sorrento hope after the break.
Despite having Seamus Edwards sent off, the Gulls applied some concerted late pressure, but with skipper Zayd Farah outstanding at the heart of the defence, Glory held on.
And Farah was delighted with the resilience his side showed in the face of that late storm.
“The boys kept their heads in the second half and we stuck to the process and fought it out to get the win,” he said.
“We’re all stoked to have won our club’s first cup in the State League. All the hard work the coaches and players have put in has been rewarded.”
Bukuru, meanwhile, who has scored 14 league goals so far this term, was similarly thrilled with the victory.
“I was really happy to get the goals and although they came back at us after half time, we wanted to play our style of football,” he said. “I thought we did and were well worth our win. The players are delighted.”
Glory started brightly and were rewarded with the lead on 14 minutes when Aidan Edwards found Sasa Njegic and he slid the ball through to Bukuru who finished clinically past Sorrento ‘keeper, Anastasis Farsalas
Farsalas then produced fine saves to twice deny Njegic as Glory continued to dominate, but he was left helpless on 29 minutes when Tiago De Souza whipped in a cross from the left and Bukuru found the net with a glancing header.
It was Glory who ended the half still very much on top, with only a superb last-ditch tackle from Jordan Fazzari preventing Bukuru from sealing his hat-trick and Farsalas called into action yet again, this time to thwart Jordan Abrahams.
After the break, however, Sorrento lifted and halved the arrears 11 minutes in when Connor Shimmin’s corner was punched into his own net by Speca under pressure from two Sorrento players.
The Gulls’ momentum was then temporarily stifled by the loss of Seamus Edwards to a second yellow card and Glory almost took immediate advantage of their numerical superiority as Trent Ostler picked out Bukuru in front of goal, only for the frontman to fire over.
As full time approached, however, it was ten-man Sorrento who got on the front foot, with Speca keeping out efforts from Breen and Danny Jones in a frantic finale.
There were joyous scenes in the purple ranks when the final whistle sounded and Glory coach Richard Garcia was quick to praise his victorious charges.
“I thought the boys were a little nervous,” he said, “but we played well in the first half.
“They [Glory] showed good grit in the second half when Sorrento went very direct and they fought the game out which was pleasing, but we did have two clear-cut chances in the second half to put the game to bed.
“Yes, it’s great to win the cup, but it’s all about the development of these players and how they are progressing in their careers. “We’re hoping these guys will be the next Perth Glory senior players.”
Match Details
Perth Glory 2 (Bukuru 14’, 29’) Sorrento 1 (Speca o.g. 56’)
Half time 2-0
Referee: Brandan Skinner
Perth Glory: GK Nicholas SPECA, 2 Harry QUIGLEY, 3 Nicholas MCDONALD, 4 Zayd FARAH (C), 5 Tiago DESOUZA, 6 Cameron MCLEAN (13 Kian MCGUIGAN, 7 Jordan ABRAHAMS, 8 Aidan EDWARDS (12 Joshua SAMSON 91’), 9 Sasa NJEGIC, 10 Abias BUKURU, 11 Trent OSTLER
Substitutes not used: 14 Nicolas WALSH, 15 Jacob MUIR
Yellow Cards: Abrahams 56’, Bukuru 88’
Red Cards: Nil
Sorrento: GK Anastasis Farsalas, 3 Jaxon TEMATA, 12 Joel PROUT (32 Jason PETRIE 51’), 22 Danny JONES, 24 Jordan FAZZARI, 25 Gino HAMPSHINE (28 Alexandro LOI 68’), 30 Jesse OWVOR, 31 Connor SHIMMIN (27 Tristian STEVENS 66’), 33 Seamus EDWARDS, 34 Charles BREEN, 35 Sam FAULKNER
Substitutes not used: RGK Noah BLOCH, 26 Luke JONES
Yellow Cards: Edwards 56’, 65’, Jones 74’
Red Cards: Edwards 65’
#One Glory
