Minnows Perth AFC target Australia Cup upset
Round Four of the 2022 Australia Cup WA preliminary rounds sees several NPLWA – Men’s sides travel to lower-ranked opposition as the magic of the cup continues this Anzac Day long weekend.
One club hopeful of causing an upset are the competition’s lowest-ranked side Perth AFC, who host NPL team Cockburn City at Len Packham Reserve. The Belt Up Amateur Division Three side are in Sunday’s tie after a 4-2 win over Chipolopolo in the last round and having won their first two league games over Northern City and Cracovia by an aggregate score of 9-1.
The Coolbellup-based outfit are led by first-year head coach Nathan Thorp, who had been with Olympic Kingsway for the past eight years and was part of their double winning side in 2020. Despite it being his first year at amateur level, the scale of the occasion for the club is one which is not lost on Thorp.
“There’s been a good buzz. We’ve got high expectations in terms of the league, but this is the biggest game in the club’s history and the lads are well aware of that,” he said.
“There’s a real excitement to test ourselves. I’m really looking forward to coming up against a side who have been established in the NPL for a long time now.
“The club just avoided relegation last year, so when I came in the first thing was to bring that confidence and belief back to the group and that’s been the message throughout the whole of pre-season.
“The first two (league) results are a prime example of what they can achieve when they do believe. It was very important to get off to a good start and now we can go into Cockburn with confidence.
“We have to do a lot of things right. But I go back to belief, you have to believe and we’re going to go out with a game plan and to try and win the game with no fear.”
While Perth AFC’s form is decent, they are facing a Cockburn team who are unbeaten in two including last Saturday’s 3-0 victory over NPL leaders Floreat Athena.
Emerald are another team from the amateur competitions looking to claim a scalp on Sunday, as the Belt Up Amateur Premier side host Balcatta Etna, who unlike Cockburn are not going well – they have yet to take a point or score a goal in their first three NPL games and this week went down 6-0 at Armadale.
Emerald are a club who were formed only in 2013 but have progressed through the divisions at fast pace and hit Sunday’s top tier after promotion from Division One at their third attempt. They advanced to Round Four with a 3-0 win over Jaguar FC thanks to two goals from Andrew Wood and another from Conor Lally.
“I think we’ve always been an ambitious club. I think every year we go into the league and want to try and win it and it’s worked most times,” said Shane O’Donovan, who has been coach for the past three years.
“We’ve kept hold of a few players and it was a great start last week (a 2-1 win) against a Maddington side who I think will be up there this year. We back ourselves, we work hard in training and we’re confident in our players.
“It’s always good to challenge yourself. We will expect them to have a lot of the ball, but as long as we can keep it tight at the back, we have players who are capable of putting a few goals away if they get their chance.
“We haven’t played an NPL team before so we’ll look to put it up to them, which I believe we can do, and everyone’s buzzing and really keen to give it a go.”
A couple of State League clubs will also welcome NPL opponents, with Gosnells City no strangers to causing a cup upset after knocking out then-NPL side Rockingham City last year.
On Saturday Marc Anthony’s team have a clash with neighbours Armadale, and the coach hopes a successful cup run can align nicely with their league season after a stop-start beginning to 2022 due to a couple of Covid cancellations.
“Since I’ve been with Gosnells we’ve been good in the cup. Last year we were outstanding, got to the quarter-finals and then drew Floreat who beat us, but I thought we were excellent and it was a springboard for our season,” he said.
“We’re obviously taking on another NPL club and we’re definitely underdogs, but we’ll go and give a good account of ourselves. In the earlier rounds, we beat Kingsway who are sitting pretty at the top of Division One and that was probably our best performance so far in terms of competitive games.
“Armadale had a fantastic result on Tuesday night (beating Balcatta 6-0) so they’ll be full of confidence, but that just makes for a good cup tie. And with them not being far away from Gosnells, I think there’ll be a good crowd, a cup atmosphere and hopefully something our players relish. It’s the magic of the cup, you’ve drawn an NPL side at home, so we’ve just got to try and make it as uncomfortable for Armadale as possible.”
Joondalup City head coach Brad Hayward also believes his State League side can use their tie with NPL side Inglewood United on Saturday to kickstart their 2022 campaign.
“It could be the catalyst to reset our start to the season,” Hayward said.
“It’s a tough opponent who probably underestimate our ability being a Division Two side, but we will be almost entirely unknown to them, whereas we have the luxury of being able to watch and review their previous league games.
“It will really help us prepare prior to kick off in the big game on Saturday. We have to stay together, stay compact and stay positive, but hopefully with a strong vocal support from the home crowd and the weight of expectation we can pull off a shock result with a little magic of the cup.”
Other State League v NPL ties over the weekend include Swan United v Gwelup Croatia and Perth SC v Rockingham City on Saturday, and Wanneroo City v Bayswater City on Sunday.
Unusually at such an early stage of the competition, two of the top four teams in the NPL are guaranteed to make an exit this round because Perth RedStar face Sorrento while Stirling Macedonia take on Floreat. Both matches are on Saturday.
One game has fallen victim to Covid, with the all-Division One Forrestfield United v Joondalup United tie postponed.
Saturday (3pm unless stated)
Balga v Ballajura (2.45pm), Swan United v Gwelup Croatia (2.45pm), Murdoch University Melville v South West Phoenix, Perth SC v Rockingham City, Mandurah City v UWA Nedlands, Joondalup City v Inglewood United, Perth RedStar v Sorrento, Gosnells City v Armadale, Curtin University v Kingsley Westside (7pm), Stirling Macedonia v Floreat Athena (7pm).
Sunday (3pm unless stated)
Emerald v Balcatta Etna (1pm), Perth AFC v Cockburn City, Wanneroo City v Bayswater City, Ashfield v South Perth United (5pm), Quinns v Western Knights (5pm).
Postponed: Forrestfield United v Joondalup United
Filed Under: Australia Cup