Stirling Macedonia head coach Ago Mujic has dismissed any notion that his team’s Hahn Australia Cup trip to Melbourne is a mid-season jolly.
Stirling face high-flying NPL Victoria side Avondale FC on Tuesday night, their first appearance on the national stage in 11 years.
As with all non-A-League teams who qualify for the Round of 32, an out-of-state away draw ranks highly on most players’ wish lists.
But Mujic says his team’s focus is solely on the tie at Green Gully Reserve and booking a place in the last 16.
“We can’t wait to play, everybody is buzzing, and we believe we can do something special,” Mujic said.
Stirling's win over Inglewood in the previous round
Stirling flew to Melbourne on Sunday and are training at their sister club, Preston Lions.
“The people at Preston Lions have been absolutely brilliant, we couldn’t ask for more,” Mujic said.
“We had a couple of hundred people at our training session, including a large Macedonian support and the people who have travelled from Perth to support us. Hopefully they'll come and cheer us on tomorrow.
“We flew a day early to have extra time to recover from the flight. At training today, the players had a bit of jelly legs. Also, it is a different ball in the Australia Cup than what we use in Perth. So there are a few little things for boys to get across.
“It helped that we were able to play the league game against Sorrento on Friday. We were able to have a recovery day Saturday and then fly here on Sunday.”
The Round 17 match against Sorrento saw Stirling record a third straight win thanks to Joshua Bilaloski’s stoppage-time goal. They are unbeaten in six in all competitions and have made a habit of scoring late goals.
“Sorrento made it hard for us, but the boys showed good character, and it was sweet to get the win against very organised opponents," Mujic said.
“We’ve been working on [going to the end], to trust the process and not change things massively. We won’t settle for a draw - always go to the last whistle.”
That never-say-die spirit will likely be needed on Tuesday if Stirling are to become the third Football West side to reach the last 16 of the competition. Avondale are second in what Mujic described as “the strongest NPL competition in the country”. They also have a decent pedigree in the Australia Cup, taking Sydney FC to extra-time in the quarter-finals in 2018 and falling at the Round of 16 in 2021 and 2022.
Stirling beat Sorrento FC at the death
“We are outsiders, fair enough, but we have a lot of young boys who want to make a statement and put their name out there,” he said.
“And there are others with a lot of experience, such as [former Celtic and Scotland striker] Leigh Griffiths, who has played in games bigger than anything we have in Australia; Riley Warland, who has played around 50 games in the A-League; and others such as our captain Dejan Spaskeski and Calvin Whitney.
"This is a special game for us and we will be ready.”
The kick-off for Tuesday’s game is 5.30pm WST and it will be broadcast live on Football Australia YouTube and 10.com.au.
- Stirling are one of three WA clubs involved in the Round of 32.
Perth Glory take on A-League rivals Wellington Phoenix on Sunday at Kingsway Reserve (3pm WST).
Then at the same venue next Tuesday (29 July), reigning NPL WA champions Olympic Kingsway have a huge tie against Melbourne Victory, who have reached the A-League grand final and Australia Cup final in the past 12 months.
Olympic made the Round of 16 in this competition last season and are anticipating a bumper crowd at Kingsway Reserve.
Tickets for the game, which kicks off at 7pm WST, are on sale here: bit.ly/OKvMV-tickets
The club advises supporters to purchase their tickets early to avoid queues on match night.
