Football West News

Perth Glory head coach Richard Garcia, left, and Sorrento counterpart Jamie Harnwell

The NPL hits the road today with the Men’s and Women’s competitions holding games at Albany’s Centennial Stadium as part of the Regional Festival of Football.

First up is the men’s game between Perth Glory and Sorrento at 3pm. This will be followed by the women’s fixture involving Perth SC and Hyundai NTC.

All four sides held an open training session on Friday evening.

With four matches remaining before the men’s league splits into two and just five points separating Armadale in third and second-bottom Perth SC, both Glory and Sorrento know three points today will give them a great chance of securing a top six spot.

Sorrento occupy sixth spot heading in to Round Eight, one place above Glory.

The Gulls extended their unbeaten run to four matches in midweek with a 2-2 draw at home to Balcatta, and for the second time in three matches they salvaged a point from 2-0 down.

Speaking this morning, Sorrento head coach Jamie Harnwell said his side was looking to continue their good form.

“The players really looking forward to putting on a show for the football fans in Albany. We’ve woken up to some good weather, so conditions should be good,” he said.

“The open session went well, all the boys were fit and looking sharp.

“This is a great chance to get away together, which we don’t often get, and it’s been a little while since we got a win in this game so we want to put that right.

“It should be a great day and we’d love to see a big crowd come down.”

So tight is the table that Glory’s 2-0 loss to Floreat in midweek meant they slipped from third to seventh.

Glory head coach Richard Garcia told the club website: "It was a little bit of a flat performance if I'm totally honest; the boys looked a bit fatigued.

"But for me it was impressive that they kept going, kept pushing themselves throughout the 90 minutes even though their bodies were at the edge of their limit.

"I tried to share the minutes in the game and we'll have to see how everyone has pulled up to figure out who is going to be the freshest to play in Albany.”

On travelling to Albany, Garcia added: “It’s a great insight for them into the life of a professional footballer and something that they'll have to deal with once they make the grade.

"So it's a great experience and a great learning tool for them."

Leaders Gwelup Croatia and second-place Floreat Athena can go a long way to guaranteeing top-six berths with victories this afternoon.

Gwelup are home to second-bottom Perth SC, while Floreat host Cockburn City, who inflicted a first loss on Gwelup in midweek.

Armadale, who are third, take on Inglewood United, while fourth-place Bayswater City face Balcatta at Frank Drago Reserve. The other game sees Rockingham City, still awaiting their first win, meet ECU Joondalup.

Round Eight fixtures