A relatively inexperienced PGFC Academy First Team found Floreat Athena too strong at E&D Litis Stadium on Saturday, with the hosts running out 4-0 winners to go top of the NPL WA table.
Athena came close to opening the scoring inside the opening 30 seconds when Nicholas Ambrogio burst into the box and placed his shot narrowly wide of the mark.
Glory’s response came in the form of several enticing balls fizzed across the face of goal by Tyler Vecchio, but the finishing touch was not forthcoming and Floreat took full advantage just after the half-hour mark.
Ambrogio’s corner from the left was allowed to bobble around in the six-yard box and Jesse Fuller eventually scrambled the ball over the line.
Floreat duly doubled their lead before the break, the ubiquitous Ambrogio winning possession 25m out from goal and playing in Robert Petkov who applied a composed finish.
To their credit, Glory rallied after the break and only a smart stop from Jason saldaris in the home goal prevented Ciaran Bramwell from halving the arrears.
But as the youngsters chased the game in the latter stages, Floreat punished them with two further goals.
Six minutes from end, Chris Saldaris headed home a corner at the back post and deep into stoppage-time, Ambrogio fired into the bottom corner through a crowded box to make it 4-0.
In Saturday’s other games, the PGFC Academy Under-18s shored up top spot with an emphatic 6-1 victory and the Under-20s made it a remarkable 12 wins from 12 games as goals from Daniel Bennie and Seb Despotovski saw them home via a 2-1 scoreline.
The Academy First Team return to action on Friday evening when Stirling Macedonia will provide the opposition at Crazy Domains Stadium at Hartfield Park (kick-off at 7.30pm).
The Under-18s and Under-20s will meet the same opponents at the same venue on Saturday, with those games kicking off at 9am and 11am respectively.
Match Details
Floreat Athena 4 (Fuller 35′, Petkov 39′, C.Saldaris 84′, Ambrogio 90+4′) PGFC Academy First Team 0
Half-time: 2-0
E&D Litis Stadium
Referee: David Avison
Floreat Athena: 1.Jason SALDARIS (GK) (C), 4.Ben STEELE, 6.Jesse FULLER, 9.Robert PETKOV (21.Laat MATHIANG 84′), 10.Nicholas AMBROGIO, 11.Dennis GALAN, 15.Chris SALDARIS, 16.Bayley BROWN-MONTGOMERY (8.Sean MCMANUS 65′), 18.Phil ARNOLD (12.Jawad REZAI 78′), 19.Mohammed AL-ZAIDY (17.Alex CHRISTODOULAKIS 78′), 20.Andrew PALMER (22.Jesse ROBERTS 84′)
Substitutes not used: 13.Filip MINIC, 31.Gianluca DE FELICE
Yellow Cards: Galan, C.Saldaris
Red Cards: None
PGFC Academy First Team: 1.Adrian SINAGRA (GK), 4.Judd MACDOUGALL, 6.Chris DONNELL (C), 7.Tyler VECCHIO (14.Christian BELLADONNA 75′), 8.Jaylan PEARMAN (15.Danny DOUGLAS 61′), 9.Josh ANASMO (5.Lucas ROSSI 61′), 10.Matt GEORGE (3.Aiki TSUKAMOTO 85′), 11.Ciaran BRAMWELL (18.Joe HOBSON 75′), 12.Will FORMSTON, 17.Jayden LEADER, 20.Lucas COOK
Substitutes not used: 2.Taiga MATOBA, 16.Liam COYNE (GK)
Yellow Cards: Donnell, Formston, Cook
Red Cards: None
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