What is likely to be the final local friendly of Glory’s 2018 pre-season campaign is set to take place on Wednesday afternoon when Rockingham City will provide the opposition at the Lark Hill Sports Complex [kick off at 4.15pm].
And with the new Hyundai A-League season now less than a month away, midfielder Neil Kilkenny is relishing another hit-out against a City side who were crowned State League Division One champions earlier this month.
“The fitness levels among the lads are good,” he said, “and we’re really looking forward to both the game on Wednesday and the season to come.
“We’ve been working very hard physically as a group and also working very hard every day in terms of learning how Popa [Head Coach Tony Popovic] wants us to play.”
Glory’s most recent pre-season outing saw them draw 2-2 with A-League rivals Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium and Kilkenny felt that there were plenty of positives to come out of the cross-border clash.
“As a group, I thought we defended well,” he said. “I know we conceded two goals, but they were very close to each other and down to a lack of concentration. Fitness-wise we looked good and it was a decent overall performance.”
While admitting that the start of the new season can’t come soon enough, however, the man with 14 Socceroos caps to his name was quick to stress that the focus cannot solely be set upon the Round One showdown with Western Sydney Wanderers [Tickets available HERE].
“There’s always that up-curve just ahead of the start of the season,” he said, “but you can’t get too excited. You need to keep on a level footing because it’s a long season. You can’t get up for one game and then drop off. We need to make sure that we’re ready for each and every game.”
Wednesday’s opponents, meanwhile, will doubtless be keen to impress ahead of next year’s NPL WA campaign.
Cameron Lord’s side eventually saw off Gwelup Croatia in the race to the State League Division One title, winning 16 of their 20 games and scoring 56 goals in the process.
We’re hoping to see as many of our members and fans as possible getting along to Lark Hill for the game, but if you can’t make it, we will be providing live Twitter coverage HERE.
#OneGlory
