Coach John Papadopoulos is looking forward to his talent-laden squad pitting their skills against an undefeated Perth Glory side in this weekend’s Under-12 Cup Final.   Inglewood United’s youngsters take on Glory on Saturday morning and Papadopoulos is confident his team have what it takes to lift the trophy.

“There’s a pretty positive feeling around the team and the kids are all excited about making the Final,” Papadopoulos said.   “Our team has risen to the challenge every time they’ve had pressure put in front of them this year, so we are all looking forward to playing in our first Cup Final together.”

Inglewood opened their Cup campaign with a resounding 12-1 win over Kingsway Olympic before edging neighbours Bayswater City 3-1.   Penalties were required see off Perth SC 4-3 in the quarter-finals, and the round of four meeting was also settled from the spot, 3-2 against Subiaco AFC.

“The players have got the right attitude,” Papadopoulos commented.   “They’ve handled the last two Cup games extremely well against a couple of the league’s strongest sides, and with the added pressure of penalty shoot-outs.   If we can maintain our composure under pressure then we will give ourselves a great chance of winning the Cup.”

Papadopoulos admits he doesn’t have a great deal of insight into a Glory side that is unbeaten in 20 league and cup games.   “They’re in the other pool of the league so we’ve not had the chance to play against or watch them,” he said.   “I expect they’ll look to control the game by keeping possession, so we’ll need to limit their time on the ball.”

The Under-12s squad is Joshua Bosevski, Oliver Bradley, Zayn Bukhari, Lincoln Conroy, Adam Csontos, Sebastian Despotovski, Lachlan Fuller, Zhan Jankulovski, Kane McEwan, Perry McQueen, Hanani Ndebele, Oisin O’Connell, Jacob Peters, Luke Radis and Corey Thackray.   The team officials are John Papadopoulos (coach), Matt Fuller (assistant coach) and Naomi Fuller (manager).

Under-12 Cup Final

Inglewood United vs Perth Glory
Saturday 13 August @ Kingsway Sporting Complex, Wanneroo
Kick-off 8.30am