Cockburn attention turns to Australia Cup clash against Brisbane City

Cockburn City will look to build on Sunday’s dramatic Men's State Cup Final win over Armadale when they face Brisbane City in tonight’s Round of 32 Australia Cup tie.

The Cockerels broke a 27-year drought thanks to Daniel Robinson’s 94th-minute penalty in a thrilling 3-2 victory at Inglewood Stadium on the weekend.

It was a tough start to the season for City, with a number of off-season roster changes, injuries and Covid-enforced postponements hampering their chances of building into their campaign.

But they have proven they are up for the big games with points taken off each of the top five NPLWA – Men’s teams this term, including four against leaders Floreat. That resolve was shown again on the weekend and head coach Mirko Jelicic says he has enjoyed watching the growth of his young side throughout the year.

“I’m proud of the boys and the club in general because they haven’t had much success for a while, even though they have been thereabouts in a couple of seasons,” he said.

“The way it finished maybe didn’t do justice to the game, but it was relief really because going into the extra time I think they had a bit of momentum on. And especially with the Round of 32 game in a couple of days’ time, it helped in the sense of not having to go into extra time.

“I’m happy for the club. We’ve had to deal with a lot of adversities, which I knew would come, because the start of the season threw that at us straight away with players leaving the club for various reasons.

“We had to rebuild a lot of the line-up and that’s been ever-changing. But if you believe in and stick to the process, eventually things turn your way and I think we’re at that point now. We’ve come down that track far enough to play decent football now, but there’s a long way to go as we’ve got a lot of young boys only playing together for their first time.

“I think they’ve developed a good sense of belief in themselves and have gelled in terms of their organisation and roles, which was missing in the early part of the season. We’ve had a bit more stability in terms of playing personnel, so it’s just about working out our place and being comfortable with it in the scheme of things, and they’re up for any game now.

“There’s a comfort zone we’ve got ourselves into from being together for a while and coming away with some good wins.”

Robinson scored two penalties in the final at Inglewood Stadium on Sunday, but the performances of Harry O’Brien, who won the Stan Lazaridis Medal, and goalkeeper Ryan Barker also impressed on the day.

“It was a good team performance, but it was pleasing for those boys who have had a troubling few years in terms of playing time,” Jelicic said.

“Harry’s had a few injuries over the last few years and has not been able to play as much, but this is the first year he’s got to a point where he’s okay with his body and isn’t hampered by physical constraints.

“Ryan is really our goalkeeper coach, that’s his role, but having two goalkeepers out thrust him into the deep end and he performed really well and above expectations, so for those boys who have struggled for consistency in games and seasons they came up really well.”

Attention now turns to tonight’s Round of 32 fixture against Brisbane City, who earned promotion to Queensland’s top flight last term with a 20 wins from 20 return.

It will be their first time at this stage of the competition, while Cockburn’s last outing on the national stage saw them go down 2-1 to Melbourne Knights in a spirited showing on the road.

Brisbane City are coached by former Socceroo and Brisbane Roar defender Matt Smith and currently sit ninth in the NPL QLD, but like Cockburn are well clear of any relegation threat. Jelicic expects a challenging tie at Perry Park regardless, but hopes recent form and confidence will give his team belief that they can progress.

“It will definitely help. We’ve had a few games now with good results end on end, so that can’t hurt the boys in terms of how they approach the game,” he said.

“But this is a completely different game coming up in terms of the quality of the opposition and how they go about playing. The sides in the eastern states are ahead of us with the history of their clubs, the resources, finances, and structures in place over a period of time. So, it’s a huge challenge but with what we’ve done in the last month or so, it’s probably as good a preparation as we could hope for going in this game.

“It’s not the best recovery scenario over the next couple of days, obviously with having a hard game on the Sunday against Armadale and then the travel.

“We look forward to hopefully pleasing people, not just inside the club, but outside the club as well involving WA football. I’m sure the boys feel the support in that endeavor, so hopefully we do each other proud, first of all themselves and the club, and then beyond those circles as well.”

A win for Cockburn would make them the second NPLWA team to reach the last 16 of the competition. Sorrento are currently the only side to have made it that far, in 2017.

Tonight's game at Perry Park kicks off at 5.30pm WST and is live on 10 play.