Report by Tommy Doleman

Perth SC celebrate Alex Silla's late winner against Inglewood in the 2019 Top Four Cup Final. Photo by Football West/FotoEnzo

Inglewood United and Perth Soccer Club will lock horns in Sunday’s Men's NPL Night Series Final at Dalmatinac Park with the season’s first piece of silverware up for grabs.

Both teams have started the year productively with just one loss between them going into the weekend’s pre-season showpiece, and will no doubt be eyeing off improvement in 2021 after challenging campaigns last term.

Inglewood won six of their 16 games across both competition phases in 2020 and finished 10th in the overall standings. But head coach Andres Oliveira says he is pleased with how his team have attacked this pre-season.

“We’ve come back this year and have hit the ground running and we’ve maintained that leading up to the final,” he said.

“It’s all about momentum at this stage and we hope to pick that up and carry it on. Step by step we like to try to win and challenge in every game, and then see how we can improve on it.

“The winning mentality is also important. It creates confidence and belief, especially in the system that we want to build leading up to the season.”

Aside from last year’s COVID-affected season, Inglewood and Perth have predominantly been competing towards the top end of the division of late, with two post-season thrillers in 2019 relatively fresh in the memory.

United also have the added incentive of breaking a 16-year trophy drought which has stood since a 2005 Night Series win over Swan IC, despite several near-misses in previous years.

“Winning a trophy for any club means a lot no matter who it is. That’s what you play the game for,” Oliveira added.

“It will mean a lot to win it and we will be very happy, but whatever happens we’ve achieved a lot in the Night Series competition and can build on it from both sides.

“Every game we play against Perth is a good contest because they play good football, have good players and are well coached by Ramon (Falzon). We both like to attack, be aggressive and want to win the game, so it’s always entertaining.

“It’s good to come up against them because they are the benchmark and have been favourites over the past few years, so we will give it all we can, try to win the game and give a good contest for everyone to watch.”

Perth, meanwhile, hold the most Night Series finals wins and are aiming for back-to-back pre-season titles. But they are also looking to bounce back after 2020 ended with a 4-0 defeat to City of Vincent rivals Floreat Athena in the Final Series decideder.

“That game hurt a lot,” said Perth head coach Falzon.

“There was enormous pride in making a fifth consecutive grand final, but it wasn’t our day in the final. We want to use it as motivation this season so we don’t feel that pain again.”

The Azzurri have bolstered their midfield and attacking options in 2021 with last year’s Golden Boot runner-up Cameron Teece among the off-season signings.

Falzon said he is excited by the start to this year and the relationship which is developing between former Sorrento striker Teece and 2019 Golden Boot winner Michael Domfeh, with the pair already combining for seven goals in pre-season.

“The partnership between Cameron and Michael is very positive. From the in-house games back in January, I’ve noticed the improvement as they’ve learned to feed off each other,” he said.

“We’ve seen the combinations and understanding develop at training and we’re looking forward to seeing that in the attacking third on game day.

“I’m very satisfied with the way pre-season has gone. The new players have fitted in quickly and the dynamics on the pitch have fallen into place over the past few weeks. I couldn’t be happier with the performances and results heading into the final and the NPL WA."

The Inglewood-Perth final kicks off at 7pm. Before that, defending league champions ECU Joondalup will meet Armadale in the third and fourth-place play-off (5pm).

The Night Series final between Inglewood United and Perth will be live streamed on the Football West Facebook page and YouTube channel.