Higgins targets 'bogey team' Athena

Report by Tommy Doleman

Andy Higgins in action during last season's State Cup final against Floreat Athena. Photo by Football West/FotoEnzo

A top-of-the-table showdown is this weekend’s highlight in Round 15 of the NPLWA - Men’s competition as Floreat Athena travel to Perth RedStar on Saturday afternoon.

Athena have won five of their last six league games to become the fourth different league leaders in the past month. They have also won the last six fixtures against RedStar in all competitions, which included last year’s State Cup Final and a thrilling 3-2 win at E&D Litis Stadium in Round Four.

But despite trailing by two points, RedStar do have a game in hand. And in 2020, while still ECU Joondalup, they did pip Vas Vujacic’s side to the title on a dramatic final day.

RedStar midfielder Andy Higgins says it is an important time for the whole squad to continue to step up.

“I feel like we’d found some good form over the last few weeks and then things just didn’t go our way against Inglewood. We conceded a goal that probably shouldn’t have happened, but it did happen, you get past that, then you get a red card a few minutes later and you’re chasing the game,” he said.

“We move on and now go into this week where it’s a must-win against Floreat. We’ve got to stay on the same page. We said it at the start of the year that we can’t win the league as an 11, we need the whole squad together because everyone is going to play their part.

“Ryan Lowry is suspended on the weekend, so someone has to come in and do a job. It’s about everyone staying concentrated, keeping up that competition in training, and if we do lose a game we don’t fall, we get back up and keep going. These next two games against Floreat and Stirling are important and will really show us where we are.”

Higgins has a long affiliation with the northern suburbs club that goes back to his days as a junior. The 28-year-old came through ECU Joondalup as a left-sided player, but upon reuniting with U15s State coach Kenny Lowe in 2020 he was moved into a central playmaking role. It is a move which has given him a new lease of life individually, while also benefiting the team who broke a 21-year title drought.

“It probably took me a whole pre-season to get used to it, but I feel in the past couple of seasons I’ve found my feet in that midfield position and I’m scoring a few more goals as well which is nice,” Higgins said.

“As soon as Kenny came in, he wanted me in that number 10 role, and throughout that time I’ve always had two decent centre-mids cleaning up behind me if it goes the other way.

“I’ve been here since I was 10 years old, but the good thing is it hasn’t really changed too much as a club. The same faces, first team, juniors, coaches, people who come to watch the game. So many people down there who had seen the club mainly be in the bottom half, and when we won that league we had Brandon O’Neill and his dad Myles there too, and for him to see us win was special.

“Even my parents have been there since I was a kid. Always seeing us win the juniors all the time, but never really as a first team, so to get there and win was great. We were known really for the young lads going over to England, which is obviously really good, but it maybe took away from our first team a bit. I think about the first team we could have had if we’d kept all those players and I don’t think we would have lost the league for 10 years!

Higgins will likely play an important role in Saturday’s midfield battle against Athena and expects Saturday’s clash to be an excellent watch for the neutral.

“They seem to be one of our bogey teams who have just managed to find an extra goal against us from somewhere a few times in the last few years,” he said.

“We’ll be up for it on Saturday. I know they will be as well and everyone enjoys these games when you’re a top side playing against another top side, because you want to go out and show each other who the better team is. I think it will be a great game."

Round 15 starts on Friday night in Forrestfield as Perth Glory host Stirling Macedonia. Both sides are desperate for three points to get their season’s moving back in the right direction with Glory slipping to ninth after three losses in a row and Ian Ferguson’s team winless in five.

Third-place Bayswater City lost in both league and cup before conceding a late equaliser to Cockburn at the weekend. They will aim to capitalise on whoever drops points above them when they travel to second-bottom Gwelup Croatia, who will be keen to draw clear of Balcatta Etna.

Sorrento are one point off a top-four place and meet Perth SC at Percy Doyle Reserve with the Azzurri seemingly turning a corner after impressive back-to-back wins over Stirling and Armadale.

Inglewood United are in a rich vein of form with four wins from their last five putting them four points off fourth spot. They go to Cockburn City, who come off a great week which saw them drawn away at Brisbane City in the Australia Cup Round of 32.

Armadale are the other WA representative on the national stage having drawn South Australian State League side Modbury Jets at home. They travel to Balcatta, who are still looking for a first win of the season but claimed a spirited point at Stirling last week with some new additions.

Round 15 fixtures

Friday (7.30pm): Perth Glory v Stirling Macedonia. Saturday (3pm): Balcatta Etna v Armadale, Cockburn City v Inglewood United, Gwelup Croatia v Bayswater City, Perth RedStar v Floreat Athena, Sorrento v Perth SC.




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