Goalkeeper Jordan Howell feels “privileged” to be training alongside former Australian youth international Aleks Vrteski. The 22-year old shot-stopper has been proving his worth since joining Inglewood United in the Under-20s, who’ve risen to fifth after picking up three wins and a couple of draws from their last seven National Premier Leagues games.

Howell is well aware it’ll take a lot more than a few good performances to unseat Vrteski from the number one spot. And while that may be his end goal, for the time being he is happy to learn everything he can from his rival. “It is a privilege to play, train and learn from Aleks,” Howell commented.

“Football has given him so many experiences that I can only dream of, and I’m grateful he is helping me grow as a goalkeeper. I filled in for him a few weeks back and the first thing he did on returning was analyse the game with me and pick up on things I could have done to prevent certain situations.”

The game in question happened to be Howell’s National Premier Leagues debut. “My first game in the first team is one I’d always wanted a win, unfortunately, we didn’t get any points,” he said of last months’ loss at Sorrento. “I was reasonably happy with how I played, I was a little over-excited with certain plays and situations but that will improve with experience.”

Howell, who played juniors at Swan United and was with Armadale last season, says his passion for the game has been reignited by joining Inglewood. “I was having difficulties with travel to from Armadale and caring for my ill mother, so I gave football away,” he explained. “(Assistant coach) Saul Contera got in touch asking if I wanted to play for Inglewood.”

“I was sold on the club from my first training session. The football was fast, as I was expecting, so the bar was set high from the start. The banter between the players is always interesting, and having some great personalities make it that little bit better. The welcome I’ve received from everyone – players, coaches, committee, etc – has made me feel at home.”

“(Coach) Michael Garcia has been great,” continued Howell. “He works hard to fine tune his team and eliminate errors, which as a player is what you want. Seeing Michael go to extremes in an attempt to get perfection from his players makes me give that little bit more to achieve the levels he is striving to get from us.”