After his late goal handed Perth Glory a vital win, skipper Andy Keogh lauded the impact of PS4 NPL NSW recruit Mitch Mallia at nib Stadium on Saturday night.
Mallia came off the bench to set up Keogh’s goal against Adelaide United, which handed Glory a 1-0 win for just their second victory of the campaign.
The former Blacktown City winger used a great change of pace to zoom past Ben Garuccio on the right, getting to the byline before he hung up a lovely cross to the far post for Keogh to pounce.
“What a little run that was,” Keogh told Fox Sports after the match.
“It wasn’t easy with his weaker foot to dink it like he did.
“Fair play to him. Coming from Blacktown, he’s made an impact now in the A-League and hopefully he can continue that.”
This isn’t Mallia’s first experience in the Hyundai A-League, having played 18 games for Sydney FC between 2011-14.
He’s spent the last three seasons playing with Blacktown in the NSW NPL.
But Glory boss Kenny Lowe revealed it was a standout display in this year’s Westfield FFA Cup that convinced him to give the 25-year-old a second crack in the Hyundai A-League.
“I was actually analysing the game before we played Western Sydney Wanderers (in round 1) and the only game we had because it was the first game of the season was the Blacktown game,” Lowe explained.
“In that game when I was analysing it I thought ‘he [Mallia] looks alright’.
“Then we got an injury that week. It’s ironic when you think of it like that but we had an injury in the same position and you think ‘let’s go and get the kid and give him a chance’.”
Asked about the 1-0 win, Lowe said: “I thought it should have been wrapped up before we scored.
“We missed a pen, had one two yards out and had another couple of chances as well.”
