2019 Joint Gold Medal winners Giordano Colli, left, and Dean Evans at the recent NPL WA Season Launch. Photo by Football West/FotoEnzo.
Round Two of the NPLWA – Men’s competition sees a meeting between last year’s joint Gold Medal winners as Perth Glory entertain Floreat Athena at Forrestfield’s Crazy Domains Stadium.
Midfielders Giordano Colli and Dean Evans may be separated by a decade in age, but the pair were locked on 21 votes, finishing six clear of Ndumba Makeche to claim Player of the Year honours in 2020.
Both men also captain their respective sides in the NPL, but for Colli in particular it was a breakout campaign which saw him receive a call-up to Glory’s Asian Champions League squad, where he roomed with former Socceroo Neil Kilkenny in Qatar.
“'Killa' taught me a lot, coached me through a lot of situations and told me plenty of stories about his career. He told me to keep pushing, to keep working hard and when your time comes to step up and take it,” Colli said.
“It’s one of the highlights of my career and my life to go to the Asian Champions League. It was unbelievable to get the call-up, and to come on and play my part, even if we didn’t get the results as a team.
“2020 was a great year for me personally, but I’ve got to do it again this season in the NPL. I’ve got to go out there, work hard, perform and lead the team to victories.”
Colli is relishing Saturday afternoon’s match-up with Evans on the pitch and said there was plenty of positives to take from their entertaining 2-2 draw against Perth SC at Dorrien Gardens.
“It was a great result for us against Perth because we know they have been up there in the last few years. It gives us confidence going into this week, but there’s still plenty for us to build on,” he said.
“The boys have more confidence and an extra year under their belts, so there’s not as many nerves and we’re trying to get the best possible results to fight toward the top spots in the league.
“Floreat have been up there too, so we know it won’t be an easy game, but we have to go in full of confidence in ourselves and believe we can win the game.
“Dean is an unbelievable player that I’ve had many a battle with in previous years and we’ll go at it again on Saturday. Off the field we’re mates, but on the field you’ve got to go out there and win.”
Evans has been one of the league’s most consistent players in recent years. He actually polled the most votes in the 2019 Gold Medal count, but was ineligible to win the award due to a suspension following a red card collected against Glory in Round One.
Evans was delighted to receive a share of the individual award in 2020, but is now focused on guiding an experienced Athena team towards league success.
“Individual accolades are obviously awesome, but without the help of the team it’s not possible,” the former Glory youth team player said.
“Nothing changes for us. We go into every game wanting to win. We have high expectations, want to challenge every year and win silverware.
“We still have that feeling where we haven’t won the league with this group of players and that’s our biggest aim for the year, to go one step further and hopefully win it.”
Evans spent a little bit of time coaching Colli when he was a youngster and is pleased to see his positive progression as a player.
“He’s a good young talent. It’s good to see everything is paying off for him at the moment and hopefully he can kick on to some first-team football with Glory,” Evans added.
“The battle with ‘G’ will be another interesting one on Saturday. We get on quite well off the pitch even if there are some good little verbals on it.
“We know what Glory will be about. They’re a good young side who want to play good football, but they will also want to compete.”
Elsewhere across the division on Saturday, defending champions ECU Joondalup will hope to build on an impressive 2-1 win at Gwelup Croatia when they host Armadale at the Campus.
John O’Reilly’s side will be out to bounce back from a tough season opener against Inglewood United at the weekend, as they try to recapture the form which saw them finish in the top half last season.
Inglewood will hope lightning can strike twice as they face off against Perth Soccer Club for the second time in a fortnight, having defeated the Azzurri 2-0 in the Night Series Final on March 14.
Another impressive winner on Saturday was Sorrento, who will look to build on their last-gasp win over Cockburn City in a home clash with Gwelup Croatia. Taki Nicolaidis’ team fell short against ECU on the weekend, but have a good recent record at Percy Doyle Reserve having won both league meetings there last season.
There is also a battle between two sides looking for their first NPL points of the campaign as Scott Miller’s Cockburn and Goran Stajic’s Rockingham meet at Dalmatinac Park.
Finally, Balcatta host their first game of 2021 when they welcome Bayswater, who come to Grindleford Reserve in a confident mood following their 3-0 win over Rockingham last week.
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