Western United coach John Aloisi says that it is important not to weigh rising striker Noah Botic down with any expectation-laden comparisons after the 21-year-old helped lift Western United to an important 2-1 come-from-behind win over Perth Glory in Ballarat.
A former winner of the Dylan Tombides Medal as Australia’s best example of overall conduct and commitment among its junior international sides in 2019, Botic provided what would be the game-winner via a sweetly taken volley just before the halftime break on Saturday afternoon.
Since making his maiden professional start in round 13, the attacker has started six of United’s last seven games, scoring four goals across that period.
“You don’t want to put a ceiling on any individual, but we can’t get carried away either,” Alosi said.
“We can’t say that Noah’s going to be our next No.9 for Australia, he has to work towards that.
“I don’t want any comparisons that he’s the next this player or that player: he’s Noah Botic.
“He’s still learning the game and we’re trying to help him with that.”
Entering the match second-bottom on the Isuzu UTE A-League ladder and with their finals hopes hanging by a thread, Tongo Doumbia and Botic’s goals late in the first half proved enough for United to erase Jordan Elsey’s opener and move into eighth position on the table.
Glory, conversely, fell to 11th with the defeat and despite having the best of things on the stat sheet, were left to rue letting another game slip through their fingers.
Now winless in six matches, they could fall to the bottom of the ALM table by the end of the round should other results go against them and will lose winger Salim Khelifi for the season when he undergoes foot surgery this week.
“You look through our results and see how close so many of the games are and it’s even worse when you look at how many of the games you were on top,” Glory boss Ruben Zadkovich said.
“When you have more of the ball and more chances, it’s very frustrating.
“You do need that bit of luck in a tough comp and I don’t think we got any today.”
Aloisi confirmed Botic had avoided a potential concussion after a late head clash but that his side would likely be without James Troisi for at least a couple of weeks with a hamstring complaint.
