Ante Kovacevic - Athena First team Coach - No Mug
Traditional WA football giants Perth SC and Floreat Athena will go head-to-head for a vital three points on Sunday afternoon at BGC Stadium. Athena will get a 9-day break coming into this fixture after they thrashed the National Training Centre (NTC) 7-1 last Friday night in the non-points contest. Their opponents in Perth are also coming into the match with some form, after defeating ECU Joondalup 2-1 last weekend
David Onoforo is Perth’s top goal scorer this season with seven strikes to his name, including the opener last weekend against ECU and his form will be crucial to the outcome on Sunday. Liam Boland bagged Floreat’s seventh last Friday night and he remains Athena’s main marksman with nine goals since joining the club.
Also coming into the match with some form are the Van Dongen brothers - Paul and Michael - after they combined for three goals against the NTC. The last time these two teams met saw Perth come out 4-1 winners, but Athena has since turned their form around to become another finals contender.
Athenista - the Floreat Athena blogger – has been flat out like Baghdad Brickie in the lead up to this huge fixture with tips from a past president and interviews with 3 Athena stars this week already.
So with a focus on always aiming to keep the blue and white faithful updated on first team ongoings we catch up with Ante Kovacevic for his low down on the big one.
Hello Ante and thanks for making the time to be grilled by Athenista blogger on behalf of Athena fans world wide.
Cheers mate – as always I love the grilling and questioning!
Ante, it is a big weekend for us, it could almost be season defining as we now sit within striking distance of a finals spot. Thinking back to last weekend - we gave the NTC a lesson in adult football in a sense.
Did any of them impress you?
Without singling any of the players out, I’d say I was impressed with the confidence in trying to play the ball. Their movement off the ball impressed, and made it difficult for our boys to win it back. We needed to lift our intensity, to be able to compete with them. We probably did this after the first 15 minutes where we took control of the game. But credit to the NTC they always tried to play the way they have been instructed. Obviously, it may have seemed they overplayed at times, but its more about development for those boys at this stage.
Some of their tackling in the dying moments got you quite animated.
Some of their tackles got a little reckless, but I was more disappointed about some of the off the ball incidents in what is technically a friendly match. The NTC boys will only be playing another friendly match next week so they have nothing to lose, where we have 6 important games coming up to try and make the Top 5 Finals. Thankfully none of our boys got too involved to warrant any action from the referee that may have seen one of our boys miss next weeks game due to a stupid suspension incurred from a friendly game.
How have the players pulled up?
Most of the players have pulled up fine. We should be going into next weekends fixture with a full squad to choose from.
Your feelings leading up to the Perth clash?
It is a massive game after a long break for us where 3 points are vital. After the 3 week lay off from league football, 3 points will go a long way to set us up for our run for the finals. Perth are obviously a quality side, with players that have won the last 2 championships, so it we will need to be at our best. They’ll also still be chasing top spot and the 3 points is equally as important for them.
The team has generally selected itself due to our depth limits and has performed very admirably we must add! But are we to expect any surprises come Sunday?
I don’t think so. Thankfully injuries and suspensions haven’t hurt us so far this season and hopefully it remains that way, but I’d suggest the match day squad will pick itself and the starting 11 will almost be certain barring 1 or 2 positions.
I estimate that this is now probably your fifth Athena vs Perth league derby at Dorrien Gardens and I know to the consummate professional it is ‘just another game’ but what’s it like a player and player coach?
Yes, probably my fifth Athena-Perth derby at Dorrien Gardens but considering we play twice a year and we have met in night-series competitions – I have been involved in several more.
It is always a passionate affair amongst the 2 of the traditionally strongest clubs in the league. It is definitely the one game I look forward to, home and away, because of a number of reasons; the 2 venues which are a joy to play state league football, the rivalry and the football that both teams try to play. The contests are always competitive which is usually enjoyed by both sets of supporters and the neutrals that come along.
Dangerous players that we are going to have to be on the look out for?
Perth are dangerous all over the park and have proven performers at this level. Their attacking options will be their main strength that we need to be weary of. Players like Onoforo, Sharland and Olivera are proven goal scorers at this level and they will need to be stopped if we are to get maximum points this weekend.
If we get a serious run of victories where we repeat our first half performance we will be into finals contention. What are your plans ahead for these goals?
Obviously the goal is to make the Top 5 finals playoffs for the championship. Once again, we are just focused on taking each game as they come. I hate using the cliché but it literally is taking it one week at a time and concentrating on what we need to do to win each game. Each opponent will be different and each approach will be different according to what we need to do to win. We don’t want to look to far ahead, but yes, we know we have to win the majority of our games remaining.
Are you going to South Africa with the Glory pre-season tour?
Unfortunately I wont be travelling to South Africa for the tour which would have been a great experience. I obviously have my focus on my day job with Glory and the job at hand at getting Floreat Athena into the finals this season. Pre-season tours are fantastic for the squad to get away from their home base and solely concentrate on football during the 2 weeks. Pre-season can get monotonous, especially the abnormally long HAL pre-season this year which will be about 5 months. So a change of environment, and 3 competitive games against South African competition will hopefully go a long way to gel the team in preparation for the upcoming A-League season.
Thanks Ante for filling us in with everything regarding our build up to the Perth fixture - good luck and we're all looking forward to singing our hearts out for the boys!
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