The PGFC Academy First Team turned on the style to down Stirling Macedonia 3-0 in Saturday’s NPL WA clash at Macedonia Park, with Lucas Cook, Josh Anasmo and Lucas Rossi claiming a goal apiece.
The hosts went into the game having secured six points from their opening two fixtures of the campaign, but after scoring twice in the space of three first-half minutes, Glory took a grip on the game which they never looked likely to relinquish.
With a vocal home crowd behind them, Stirling started brightly and came close to making an early breakthrough when Hugo Snowden headed a Calvin Whitney cross against the bar.
In response to that let-off, the Academy side upped the tempo and duly hit the front themselves in the 25th minute as Will Formston drilled a low ball across the box and after timing his run to the far post perfectly, Cook was left with the straightforward task of sidefooting home.
The hosts were still reeling when Glory struck again, this time Anasmo carving his way into the box and calmly firing a shot past James Bosdet before celebrating with an impressively acrobatic front flip.
And Anasmo turned provider for the visitors’ third goal which arrived five minutes into the second half.
It was his through-ball which split the Stirling defence and as they appealed for an offside flag which never came, possibly because Anasmo’s pass appeared to strike a defender, Rossi calmly rounded the ‘keeper and slotted into the empty net.
The Lions battled desperately to try and reclaim a foothold in the game as the second half wore on, but they were kept at bay by a well-marshalled Glory defence and their hopes of a last-minute consolation goal were dashed when Adrian Sinagra pulled off a fine save to keep out a Whitney free-kick.
The First Team’s victory completed a clean sweep for the Academy on the day, with the Under-18s winning 10-0 and the Under-20s 5-0.
Next on the agenda for Alex Epakis’ side is a home clash with Armadale at Crazy Domains Stadium at Hartfield Park on Friday 15 April (kick-off at 7.30pm), while the Under-18s Under-20s are in action against the same opponents at the same venue on Saturday 16 April at 9am and 11am respectively.
#OneGlory
Match Details
Stirling Macedonia 0 PGFC Academy First Team 3 (Cook 25′, Anasmo 28′, Rossi 50′)
Half-time: 0-2
Macedonia Park
Referee: Shane Skinner
Stirling Macedonia: 1.James BOSDET, 2.Ryan MALTON (8.nathan DIAZ 74′), 3.Brent QUICK, 4.Hristijan JANKULOSKI, 5.Luke PALMATEER, 6.Dejan SPASESKI (C), 7.Asher NELSON, 9.Hugo SNOWDEN, 10.Samuel WYNNE (11.Jack RYCROFT 13′), 13.Calvin WHITNEY, 17.Alex TANEVSKI
Substitutes not used: 15.Luke GARAS, 20.Liam PRICE
Yellow Cards: Bosdet, Spaseski
Red Cards: None
PGFC Academy First Team: 1.Adrian SINAGRA (GK), 3.Daniel WALSH, 4.Jacob YOUNG, 5.Lucas COOK, 6.Chris DONNELL (C), 7.Lucas ROSSI, 8.Andrew MARANTA (18.Joe HOBSON 74′), 9.Josh ANASMO (15.Danny DOUGLAS 74′), 10.Aidan EDWARDS (17.Christian BELLADONNA 67′), 11.Matt GEORGE (14.Jayden LEADER 74′), 12.Will FORMSTON (2.Taiga MATOBA 83′)
Substitutes not used: 25.Keegan GRANT (GK)
Yellow Cards: Edwards, Cook, Sinagra
Red Cards: None
(picture courtesy of Tom McCarthy)
#OneGlory
