Perth Glory’s under 20’s team have been crowned National Premier League WA Champions after an emphatic 9-1 win against Cockburn City at the weekend.
Michael McDougall bagged a first half hat-trick, with Daniel Stynes scoring a brace, while Alex Tanevski, Losene Dulleh, Ben Johns and Jesse Lazzaro were also on target.
Glory Coach Bobby Despotovski was delighted with the way his young side won the game and the way they have played all season.
“Winning the title for under 20s NPL league is a great achievement for Perth Glory, but developing the players is more important to Steve (McGarry) and I,” he said.
“Hopefully this title will give us credibility, that we are all working towards one goal, and that is the development of hopefully the next superstars to play in the A-League for the club.
“I’m really happy the lads won the title, because they have worked their butts off for it, and they need recognition for their achievement. It will be even harder for future players to achieve, what this generation has done, but that is the challenge and we will never rest in educating future stars.”
For hat-trick hero McDougall, the title is recognition of the hard work the coaches and players have put in this season.
“I really enjoyed the game and I thought the entire team played great from the start to the finish and we deserved to the win the title. We started off a bit shaky but after some good possession and a few chances we managed to grab the lead and continued from there” he said
McDougall opened the scoring early after the young striker was brought down in the penalty area, but was up quickly to finish low past the Cockburn keeper.
He completed his hat-trick with two quick goals.
First he fired home from the top of the penalty area, before adding his and the Glory’s third, after turning home Daniel Stynes’ cross.
In between his strikes Cockburn pulled one back through Kenel Mouithys, but the Glory youngsters went into the break with a 4-1 lead, when Jesse Lazzaro, son of Cockburn City President Heidi, volleyed home from the edge of the box.
It was one way traffic after the break, and Losene Dulleh raced clear from McDougall’s through ball to make it 5-1, before Ben Johns waltzed past four defenders to add the sixth.
Glory was n party mode, and Alex Tanevski added his 27th goal of the season to make it 7-1.
Stynes added the eighth, after he cut inside his marker and fired home, before the lively winger put the icing on the title cake with his second.
At the final whistle the Glory coaches, players and supporters celebrated the club’s first NPL title.
