PGFC Academy Director Kenny Lowe has praised the attitude of his First Team charges ahead of Saturday’s NPL WA clash with Perth SC at E&D Litis Stadium (kick-off at 3pm).
The youngsters enjoyed a resounding 5-1 win over nine-man Armadale last time out, with Daniel Bennie, Lucas Cook, Aiki Tsukamoto, Alex Da Rocha and skipper Chris Donnell all finding the net at Alfred Skeet Reserve.
But it was the nature of the performance rather than the eye-catching scoreline which gave Lowe most satisfaction.
“I actually thought we were better when it was 11 v 11,” he said.
“I thought we controlled the game and looked really dangerous.
“We had a lot of young boys who looked as though they were enjoying themselves and I think the pleasing thing was that we’ve only had a couple of weeks together on the training ground and there are a lot of things they’re trying to adapt to.
“To see them doing that was much more pleasing than even the result.
“With the result, I’m pleased for them [the players], but the way we played, especially in those first 30 minutes with a really young team, was really good.”
In terms of this Saturday’s game, meanwhile, Lowe is expecting an entertaining clash with a Perth SC side currently sitting one point and one place above Glory in the table.
“They’ve gone really young and have a lot of boys who were involved in the Glory set-up at one time or another,” he said.
“They’ve got youth and energy and are well-organised, so it’ll be a good, open game as they like to play.”
The Academy Director went on to confirm that Daniel Bennie, Andriano Lebib and Jaylan Pearman will all return to the First Team squad having spent the week at an Australia Under-17s training camp in Canberra.
The trio were among 31 players looking to secure a place in the 23-player Australia squad for the upcoming AFF U-16 Youth Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia which will be named next week.Â
Ahead of the First Team game on Saturday, the Under-18s will be looking to maintain their season-long unbeaten run and take another step towards the league title, while the Under-20s, who are also leading their division, will be out to bounce back from what was their first defeat of the campaign last weekend.
The Under-18s get underway at 11am, followed by the Under-20s at 1pm and the First Team at 3pm.
Do get along and support the lads if you can and please note that the games are taking place at Floreat Athena’s E&D Litis Stadium NOT Dorrien Gardens.
(picture courtesy of Tom McCarthy)
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