Goalkeeper Aleks Vrteski believes Inglewood United are set to reap the rewards for all their hard work in training after accounting for National Premier Leagues high-flyers Stirling Lions. David Micevski’s second goal in eight days and Tim Gould’s first in Inglewood colours were amongst the highlights of last weekend’s comprehensive 2-0 win over third-from-top Stirling.
That result takes Inglewood’s points tally to nine from four outings, and moves the club to just two points adrift of fifth on the competition standings. That positive run of results has been a long time coming according to Vrteski, who feels rookie coach Michael Garcia deserves the accolades as much as the player group.
“Michael has had us working pretty hard and the boys have been putting in the effort, so to get a few wins has been a good reward,” commented Vrteski, who joined Inglewood over the summer from Stirling. “To be honest, I don’t think we’ve been far off all season. But, as we all know in football, when you have a new team with new players and coaches it takes a bit of time to click.”
“Saturday was our best performance to date and shows what we are capable of,” added the ‘keeper. “We were clinical in the execution of our plan, pressed extremely well and made life uncomfortable for Stirling, forcing their ball players into decisions they wouldn’t normally make and in turn made it a lot more comfortable for us.”
Inglewood earned not only three points against Stirling, but also their first clean sheet of the league. “We’ve had about five or six players who have played their part in the back four this season, and all have stood up well,” commented Vrteski, who has been a first eleven ever-present alongside captain Jovo Pavlovic and Rikki Smith.
“We are starting to understand that once we defend as a unit from top to bottom we will become a successful team. It’s been a great couple of weeks and we’ve got the results that our performances have warranted. But we aren’t getting carried away, we have stay focused and get something from our next game, and then the one after that and so on.”
Inglewood’s next assignment is on home soil this Saturday to Subiaco AFC, who are fresh from a 2-1 come-from-behind win at ECU Joondalup. “I have to admit I don’t know a lot about the new season Subiaco side, but what I do know is that any team coached by Gerry McEwan will not struggle for motivation,” said Vrteski.
“Every game in this league is risky and you need to be tuned in or could find yourself in trouble,” he added. “If we continue to execute the game plan the coaching team puts in front of us, it will give us every opportunity to achieve the result we need.” Inglewood hosts Subiaco at Inglewood Stadium from 3.00pm this Saturday.
