Perth Glory youth will be gunning for their sixth consecutive win this weekend as they tackle the Newcastle Jets on Boxing Day at ME Bank Stadium.
Perth Glory youth will be gunning for their sixth consecutive win this weekend as they tackle the Newcastle Jets on Boxing Day at ME Bank Stadium.
The young guns superb form has seen them propelled into the top two, putting them in an excellent position to make the finals for the first time.
Talented midfielder Reece Vittiglia says the squads- winning streak has taken them one step closer to achieving their goal of making the finals and claiming the league title.
“Even at the start of the season our goal was to win the league so now we-re just in the position where we can really take it to other teams. It-s definitely a goal that we-re out to grab,” Vittiglia said.
While Vittiglia was one to watch in his debut for the National Youth League last year, this season has been tumultuous for the youngster, with injuries keeping him from more game time.
In his first match for the season, Vittiglia put on a stellar performance by scoring a hat trick and securing a victory for Glory over the AIS. However, one week after his return, the gifted young player suffered a horrific on-field injury, breaking his arm. The injury kept him out of the action for seven weeks.
“It-s been an up and down season for me compared to last year, but you-ve just got to try and stay positive.
“When you-re injured you just try and get back in as fast as possible and now that I am, I-m just trying to cement my place in the squad and do my best,” Vittiglia said.
Vittiglia attributes Perth-s success to a well coached and drilled team, adding that time has helped the boys to gel together as a unit.
“Last year the youth league had just started so our team was brand new and we hadn-t played with each other, but this year majority of the players were kept on.
“We-ve had an extra year under our belts preparing and understanding how we play and I think that that extra year has really helped us understand our roles as players.
“Navsie (Youth Coach Gareth Naven) has drilled into us the kind of game he wants us to play and we try and influence that on the pitch,” Vittiglia said.
On the game this weekend, Vittiglia says the boys are confident, but aren-t getting ahead of themselves while they still have a job to do.
“We-re very confident but all the players are keeping a level head.
“Newcastle is a good outfit, they-re always tough to play against and they-ve got a lot of good players.
“In saying that, we have good players too and you could say we-re on a bit of a roll.
“We-re all really looking forward to the game on the weekend, it-s a really big game for us and we-re out to take the three points,” Vittiglia said.
National Youth League 2009/10 – Rd17
Perth Glory v Newcastle Jets
Saturday, 26 December 2009 at ME Bank Stadium
Local kick-off:2.00pm
Referee: David Costello
Perth Glory Squad: Ludovic BOI, Million BUTSHIIRE, Cameron EDWARDS, Dean EVANS, Howard FONDYKE, Steve HESKETH, Mario MARCINKO, Sam MITCHINSON, Alex PEARSON (gk), Ryan PEARSON, David PRICE, Joshua RISDON, Adam TAGGART, Glen TRIFIRO, Reece VITTIGLIA
Unavailable: Hayden DOYLE (knee – 5 weeks)
Newcastle Jets TBC
