Under-18s captain Ben Docherty is confident Inglewood United will stay competitive on two fronts as their National Premier Leagues and State Cup campaigns collide over the long weekend. Inglewood’s youngsters are getting ready to play two games in the space of three days, commencing with Saturday’s league encounter away at Sorrento.
And they back that up 48-hours later with a make-or-break Cup semi-final against Armadale. It’s a tough schedule but Docherty says his team are in peak condition and raring to go. “We have been working hard on the training track and lifting our intensity over the past few weeks preparing ourselves for a huge weekend,” Docherty commented.
“We have a big fixture against Sorrento in the league before playing Armadale in the Cup. Two games with such a quick turnaround is a challenge but the fitness program Kurtis (Rae) has developed will give us the ideal preparation during the week and, as has been the case all season, that will prove very beneficial on match day.”
Inglewood gave a clear demonstration of their thirst for success by coming from three goals down last weekend to snatch a last-gasp 4-4 draw with Bayswater City. “There’s a lot of heart and passion in our boys,” said Docherty, scorer of the teams’ third goal. “We let Bayswater get away a little bit and left ourselves with a huge hill to climb.”
“But we’ve got a lot of quality on the bench and Rich (Abrams), Alex (Carter) and Kurtis were able to make changes and get us back in the game. Following the game Rich commented on the character of the group to come from behind, dig deep and not give up shows the heart and passion we possess.”
“We’ve been playing some great football over the past few weeks and working well as a team. If we continue to play like we have, with the same passion and commitment, then we’ll get three points on Saturday and book ourselves in for the Cup Final on Monday … I’m very confident we can do both.”
Under-18 State Cup, Semi-Finals
Armadale vs Inglewood United
Monday 5 June @ Finance 365 Stadium (Frank Drago Reserve), Bayswater
Kick-off time 10.00am
