Last week’s big win against Foxtel Y-League Conference leaders Melbourne City has given the Glory Youth side a real lift and they will be looking to continue their improved performances when they make the trip to Lanham Park to face Brisbane Roar on Friday (kick off at 8.30am WST).
The 3-1 win victory over City was built upon a solid defensive performance to which Luke Bodnar was again a major contributor.
And the young defender felt that securing their first win of the season really got a monkey off his side’s back.
“I thought the win was well deserved,”he said. “We took the game to them very aggressively and they didn’t know how to counter that.
“It led to us being dominant throughout the game and, after scoring two early goals, we took control and it gave us a well-deserved win.”
The 17-year-old took part in an Under-17s Joeys Camp back in 2015 and is hoping that his current form might force him back into international contention.
“The Joeys camp was good and another good experience in my football development,” he said. “It was an eye-opening experience in terms of what I have to reach.
“The jump from Under-18s to first team [at Glory training] has been a very maturing experience which has led to a massive jump in my improvement as a player and I’m grateful for that.”
The last time the youngsters met Brisbane was in Round 3 at Dorrien Gardens when the visitors left with a 2-1 win, but Bodnar believes that Glory can avenge that result on Friday and maintain their recent good form.
“Last week’s win has given us more confidence and belief in our performances when we can put in a whole team effort,” he said.
“We try to treat each game the same, as a challenge and we’ll look to go into it with the same mentality as last week and enjoy the away experience.”
Head Coach John Gibson, meanwhile, feels that Bodnar has had a solid season to date and is progressing nicely.
“Luke is developing well, has been consistently improving and has a terrific attitude and appetite to learn,” he said. “He’s part of this young group who are all progressing well.”
Gibson went on to praise his players for their performance against Melbourne City before warning that they will need to bring their ‘A’ game again on Friday.
“Last week was pretty close to a 90-plus-minute performance and we were pleased, but not surprised,” he said.
“But that’s behind us. We’ve moved on and are now looking forward to taking on a strong Roar side.
“We aim, like always, to put in another consistent performance with a process-driven philosophy based on sound fundamentals, habits and behaviours.”
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