Bulloch back to fire Gulls

Sorrento will welcome back former Perth Glory midfielder Scott Bulloch for tomorrow’s clash against Perth at Percy Doyle Reserve.

Bulloch, who is a fireman, missed last week’s 2-1 win over Inglewood United after being called into work at late notice.

Co-coach Trevor Morgan said Bulloch’s experience was a boost for the team.

“When he’s on the ball he can make things happen for us,” he said.

“It’s great to have him back at Sorrento and he put a great ball in for the winner against Balcatta in Round 1.”

Perth coach Taki Nicolaidis was not concerned about his team’s “sloppy” week on the training track in preparation for the match.

“I’m not overly concerned by training,” he said. “As long as we get it right on game day I’ll be happy. Last weekend was a great result against Floreat (4-1 win) and it really kick-started our season. It was the first time Mark
Doninger, Clark Keltie and Mark Pritchard played together and we really controlled the midfield and I think that will be the key against Sorrento.”

Perth Glory coach Scott Miller will be looking for improvement from his side in their home match against Stirling Lions at Macedonia Park after last weekend’s 5-1 loss to ECU Joondalup.

“We’ve addressed the major points from the weekend’s performance after the boys had their heads down a bit,” Miller said.

“We won’t be getting any new A-League players dropping down this week so I won’t expect too many squad changes but we have plenty of positives from round one and the first half of last week.”

Stirling captain Andy Brown will play his first game of the season when the Lions take on Perth Glory at Intiga Stadium.

Work commitments have kept the club’s leader out of action, while Daniel Micevski and Clayton Arnez have overcome injury problems to also return.

Coach Gary Williams has been disappointed with the team’s start to the season after taking one point from a possible six.

“It’s not that start we anticipated and injuries haven’t helped,” he said. “Then again it’s up to the players on the pitch to perform and I think we were well below par in a number of areas against Cockburn (3-0 loss last week). It
won’t be until Round 7 or 8 that I’ll have a full squad to choose from.”

Armadale coach Lee Bamber expects his side to build on the confidence established during their first two matches when they take on Balcatta at Alfred Skeet Reserve.

Army were beaten narrowly by Bayswater City in round one before beating Subiaco last week.

“The win against Subi was massive to get us kick-started,” Bamber said. “There’s more expectation around the club now with some of the players we’ve got so it was vital to get a win.

“I don’t think Balcatta have quite got going yet. We know they’ve got some quality players but they aren’t gelling. But sooner or later they will click and I just hope it’s not this Saturday.”

Balcatta boss Ramon Falzon acknowledged the need for improvement from his side after losses to Sorrento and Bayswater but has not been discouraged by the early performances.

“In my opinion, performance is still far away from where I’d want it to be but there are good and positive indications we are heading the right way,” he said.

“Armadale was probably viewed as one of the weaker teams in the past two years but I think that’s not going to be the case this year.

“They have a better squad and I think they play football, which is good to watch and is also effective.”

Floreat Athena will welcome back the influential Bobby Wilson, more so given the injuries which have ruled out Cameron Yorke, Ludo Boi and Jamie Eames, for their match against ECU Joondalup at E&D Litis Stadium.

Despite last week’s 4-1 defeat to Perth, coach Chris Barbas took positives out of the second-half performance.

“We had a very poor, absent-minded first 45 minutes,” he said. “But credit to the boys, they knuckled down after a hard talking to and they came out were much better in the second half.

“We’re still pretty focused and we’ll have to be because ECU are confident and they’re scoring goals.”

ECU Joondalup’s Charlie Comyn-Platt will have a fitness test tomorrow morning before coach Dale McCulloch finalises his team.

McCulloch has been delighted with his side’s attacking efforts, which have reaped eight goals in two games.

“We’ve worked on our advanced roles and getting people to understand their jobs and it’s worked in terms of the goals we’ve scored,” McCulloch said.

“But this will be another hard game. We have the utmost respect for Floreat and we’re expecting a good game.”

Bayswater City will be looking to maintain their 100 per cent record when they host Inglewood United at Frank Drago Reserve.

Inglewood will be out to claim their first points of the season after losing both matches so far.

All matches kick-off at 3pm Saturday.

Cockburn City v Subiaco will be played on April 29.




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