Perth Glory youngsters travel to the Finance 365 Stadium on Saturday to take on Bayswater City, in week 10 of the PS4 National Premier League WA.
City, who are coached by former Glory and Socceroos defender Chris Coyne, have been a powerhouse club in WA football in recent seasons winning the title in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
But the form of the Glory has been good and the youngsters head into the game with confidence.
Defender Jack Iredale said the boys are looking forward to the challenge.
“You know you’re in for a big game when you’re away to Bayswater, but we have a young squad and its huge positive they are matching it with the best players in the league,” he said.
“They (Bayswater) have got quality all over the pitch and it’s going to be a massive test for the lads to see how they shape up against one of the best in the league, but we’re up for the challenge.”
The Glory put in another resolute performance at Inglewood last week, and came away with a 1-1 draw.
Coach John Gibson said it was a strong all-round team performance, but had special praise for the young side’s collective defending against a talented attacking United team.
“We thought we defended superbly last week, and Thurts (Jordan Thurtell) was fantastic for us and almost won it for us but it wasn’t to be – He nearly saved the penalty with a strong hand, but saying that he was just doing his job the whole game by just trying to keep the ball out of net,” he said.
“Tough experience but certainly better for it – our next phase is to close out those tight games. We knew we would be bombarded and it was going to be tough for 90 plus minutes.
“We were prepared for it and knew what to expect and we collective scrambled incredibly well but we are angry at ourselves for not closing out the game.”
Gibson said it’s another test for his side at Bayswater, but he said the young group is working extremely hard to improve facets of their game.
“We created a number of good chances, but in the final third the players need to be better, and they have been working hard on our work in that area,” he said.
“Bayswater brings a different challenge, but as a group, we are ready for that, and we are super excited about taking on one of the best teams in the competition.”
Kick-off is at 3pm on Saturday.
Match Details
Bayswater City v Perth Glory
Saturday, April 22, 2017
Finance 365 Stadium
Kick off times
Under 18’s – 11am, Under 20’s – 1pm – First Team – 3pm
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