After last week’s come-from-behind win at Mandurah City, Perth Glory heads home in week seven of the PS4 National Premier League WA, when it entertains Stirling Lions at Ashfield Reserve on Saturday afternoon (3pm).
The Glory youngsters are yet to win on home soil and Coach John Gibson is looking for a game full of confidence, after a good fortnight of football.
“Last week at Mandurah we fell behind, but hit back and came home with all three points. The performance of keeper Jordan Thurtell was outstanding, he made a couple of vital saves, while Joe Knowles’ drive and endeavour and the leadership skills of Jack Iredale was super.
“We also gave NPL first team debuts to Riley Warland and Cam Murray, and both put in solid games.”
Gibson said there will be some familiar faces in the Lions side on Saturday, and he’s looking forward to another good all-round performance.
“They won last week and will be high on confidence, and have some players we know a lot about,” he said.
“David Micevski, Dejan Spaseski, Alex Tanevski, Alex Suleski, Blamo Qua Qua and Moses Kalau have all been in the clubs football program.
“But we will prepare like each week and ready to meet all the challenges they put in front of us.”
It was a perfect debut for 17-year-old Murray, coming home with all three points.
“We always knew it would be a tough game, especially with it being their first home game of the season, but to start the game and win, made it a perfect debut for me,” he said.
“Moving from the 20’s to first team football is always going to be difficult, it’s much faster and more physical, but I enjoyed the challenge and the senior players helped me settle.”
Scottish-born Murray arrived in Western Australia as a 12-year-old and has played for Sorrento and Saturday’s opponent Stirling for a season, before heading to the Glory as a 15-year-old. The defender is looking forward to Saturday’s game against the Lions, and he said they will be doing all they can to get their first home win of the season.
“Saturday will be another tough game, but we have shown all season we can match it with any team in the competition,” he said.
“I believe we have the quality to win the game, and the boys will be going all out to get the three points and keep our good form going.”
Kick-off is at 3pm for the NPL seniors, with the U-18s kicking off at 11am while the U-20s kick-off at 1pm
