State Cup the focus for Cockburn and Armadale

Armadale and Cockburn City meet in the Men’s State Cup final on Sunday as part of a big week for both sides.

For Armadale, it is the perfect opportunity to bounce back from last night’s disappointing 5-2 loss to Modbury Jets in the Australia Cup.

“That’s the good thing about football, you get a chance to go again and that’s what we want to do on Sunday,” defender Kevin Ashwood said at today’s pre-final photo shoot with Cockburn’s Harry O’Brien.

Meanwhile, Cockburn will hope they can claim some silverware to set themselves up for their Australia Cup Round of 32 trip to Brisbane City next week.

“The team is really looking forward to going to Brisbane but we know we have a big game on Sunday and that’s what our focus is on,” O’Brien said.

The Cockerels got to this stage six years ago but Jon Stynes’ late goal gave Floreat Athena a 1-0 win, which means their State Cup drought has extended since lifting the trophy as Spearwood Dalmatinac in 1985.

Midfielder David Araya played in that 2016 fixture, with the Cockburn junior part of the fabric at Dalmatinac Park since the beginning of the NPL era in 2014.

He believes it is an exciting opportunity for their up-and-coming side to make an impact on the big stage.

“It’s great for the club. Fighting for silverware is what we always want to try and achieve but particularly with a newer team. A lot of the young boys have come up, and to make the State Cup final and Australia Cup has been brilliant,” he said.

“At the start of the season we had some injuries and players coming back. But we knew once we’d gelled with the personnel we brought in, that we had these performances in us.”

 Cockburn pulled off a fantastic 3-1 win away to Sorrento in the semi-final and Araya added: “We believe in each other and what (head coach) Mirko (Jelicic) has been trying to teach the team. While consistency is what we’ve lacked, we knew we would click and that’s what’s pushed us through the Australia Cup and State Cup. I feel we like the challenge of these games and there’s always so much more motivation to give it our best against those bigger clubs.

“It would mean a lot to the club (to win a trophy). It’s a family club and a lot of players in our squad have come through the youth system at Cockburn. We’ve had many come and go, who have started here and gone on to achieve other things, but it would mean a lot to win some silverware and I’m sure there’s a lot of people who follow us who it would also mean a lot to.”

Armadale, meanwhile, are much changed from the outfit which won the 2018 State Cup final 2-0 over Gwelup Croatia. Only Charlie Kenna from that squad will be in red and black this weekend, having re-signed from Olympic Kingsway recently.

For defender Nathan Costello, he is hoping it is second time lucky having missed the showpiece game five years ago.

“Its super exciting again to be involved in a season with a cup run. It not only excites and motivates us all as players, but the fans get another level of excitement that fuels us on matchday,” the former Glory academy player said.

“Unfortunately, in 2018 I had a European holiday booked prior to the season, so it was disappointing to miss the cup final after such a good run up to that point.

“It would be awesome to bring the cup to the club again, especially in our 50th year. This could be my 15th season for the club going back to playing juniors, so a return of two cups in five years would be an awesome reward.”

Similar to Cockburn, Armadale were outstanding in their semi-final as they overwhelmed Bayswater City 4-1.

Costello added: “The key this season has been as simple as believing that we are good enough to compete and win games against any team we play.

“Cockburn are a physical side and will have as much as confidence as us after the season they have had. Every time we play them has that derby feeling, so we know they will work hard and challenge hard, and we need to be at the top of our game to win.”

Sunday’s game kicks off at 3.30pm and is the last of four finals. Bayswater City and Perth Glory start the ball rolling at 9am in the Men’s U18s final. Then it’s the Men’s Reserves final between Perth SC and Sorrento, followed by the Hyundai Women’s State Cup final involving Perth RedStar and Perth SC (1pm).

All games will be live streamed on NPL.TV and Football West Facebook and YouTube.