PGFC Academy First Team Head Coach Joe Heath believes that his young charges will be fully revved up for Saturday’s NPL WA game of the day against Bayswater City at the Sam Kerr Football Centre (kick-off at 3pm).
Both sides have impressed during the first seven rounds of the campaign, scoring freely while also remaining solid at the back.
And having faced Matt Sparrow’s men in pre-season, Heath is aware of the challenges the table-topping visitors will present this weekend.
“There’s always that extra little buzz for a game like this,” he said.
“You do have to manage complacency… because young lads can get complacent very quickly, but I’m sure all of them will be raring to go on Saturday.
“What we know of them [Bayswater] from the Night Series is that they’re very physical and I thought Armadale last weekend was a great preparation game for Baysie as they are also quite direct and like to play forward quickly.”
Glory have continued to score freely this year, just as they did last season, but their defensive numbers have improved drastically and Heath draws great satisfaction from that new-found solidity.
“The main positive for me has been the amount of clean sheets that we’ve had,” he said.
“When we looked back at last season and the goals we were conceding as a team, to have kept four clean sheets in the first seven games is massive for us.
“The players have really taken on board what we’ve worked on in terms of when they’re out of possession and set their own targets.
“It’s really helped us grow into games this season.
“Goals change games and if you can keep a clean sheet for long periods in a game, we’ve got talent in the team that can always score a goal.”
On the subject of attacking output, the Head Coach’s horses for courses approach and willingness to empower his players has also paid dividends.
“I want them to feel that they can express themselves going forward,” he said, “so I don’t really restrict them in any way in possession.
“In training, patterns of play are just options for them in terms of making decisions on the pitch at the end of the day.
“Plus, sometimes at Under-23 level, you put players in certain areas of the pitch for varying reasons.
“Maybe they’re coming back from injury and need to play, maybe someone is a little bit older than another player and possibly they need to play a few more games.
“But I haven’t done that this season.
“I’ve based it off what’s needed for each game.
“As an example, if it’s best for Alfie [Knight] to be in the number 10 say, because he’s going to run at defenders, get in behind and put their defence off, I’ll play Alfie regardless of whether Seb [Despotovski] has been doing well in there.
“It’s about trying to identify which players suit which positions in which games and that’s worked well in the first seven games.”
The Academy First Team will be up against a Bayswater side brimming with experience and featuring some familiar faces including ex-Glory duo Lewis Italiano and Sam Mitchinson.
Another former Glory man, Declan Hughes, will miss the game through suspension, however, having seen red in City’s draw with Olympic Kingsway last weekend.
Cameron Teece and Sean McManus have provided Baysie’s main threat in front of goal thus far this term having each found the net on five occasions.
Ahead of the First Team game on Saturday, the Under-18s are in action at 10:30am, followed by the Under-20s at 1pm.
Both of the younger age groups will also take on Sorrento FC in the State Reserves and Under-18s Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday 28 May.
Kick-off for the 18s at Percy Doyle Reserve is at 6pm, with the 20s getting underway at 8pm.
#ONEGlory
