Its opponent in a Round of 16 game at Cbus Super Stadium on Tuesday night will be Western Sydney Wanderers - the only A-League club to be beaten by an opponent outside the A-League in the short history of the competition - and the reigning Asian champion isn't taking any chances.
"The Wanderers sent one of their assistant coaches, Hayden Foxe - to watch us play a couple of weeks ago," Palm Beach coach Grae Piddock said. "They're taking it very seriously, from all reports."
In last year's first edition of the knockout competition, Wanderers was beaten 1-0 by South Australian NPL club Adelaide City in the round of 32.
There have been a couple of close calls for A-League clubs against non-A-League opposition in the round of 32 and half of the round of 16 this season so far, but still no actual boilover.
FFA Cup Round of 16 - Tuesday 1 September
Rockdale City Suns v Melbourne Victory
Palm Beach Sharks v Western Sydney Wanderers
Metrostars v Oakleigh Cannons
Hume City v Sydney Olympic
So, does Piddock consider playing the only A-League club that has fallen to a non-A-League outfit to be a good omen or a bad one?
"If you look at it one way it gives you hope," he said. "On the flipside, you would think the Wanderers coach would remind his players of that, with the idea of making sure it doesn't happen again. I'm sure they would hate to be on the end of a second upset in consecutive years.
"You would think if there was one club that won't be taking anything for granted it will be them."
Palm Beach progressed two rounds further than Wanderers in last year's FFA Cup, beating non-A-League opposition in both the rounds of 32 and 16 before losing 5-0 to Central Coast Mariners in the quarter-finals.
"They beat us 5-0, but it was only 1-0 going inside the last 20 minutes," he said. "They scored four more goals after that. We had to start taking a few more chances and we were running out of legs a bit, so we got punished accordingly."
"The success of last year opened a few doors in Sydney and Melbourne for some of the players to join NPL clubs there and we didn't have the finances to compete with the offers.
"It's good reward for the younger fellows to play against the current champions of Asia, so the boys are buzzing about the game."
Kristian Rees, 35, is the only member of the Palm Beach squad with A-League experience, having played for several clubs. Plus, Justyn McKay has played lower-league football in England.
The shortage of strikers meant defender Tim Jackson played up front for Palm Beach in their 8-7 win on penalties over South Melbourne in a round of 32 match.
"We have no genuine strikers of first-team standard at the moment," Piddock said. "We lost two natural strikers to season-ending operations. We looked to bring players in, but they were cup-tied.
"And apart from Kristian and Justyn, the rest of the squad is very young. But they have got plenty of improvement in them.
"There will be quite a few teenagers who start the game. There is one still at School - Jason Campbell. He's 18. Jason didn't play in the last FFA Cup game, but because of injuries he's been given an opportunity in the last few weeks and has really impressed me.
"There will be a few other 18 and 19-year-olds and some more who are just 20 or 21. Some of them are only a year out of school and are at uni. It's a very young squad compared to the team from last year.
"But they're very excited about this opportunity. Some of these boys are in their first year of senior football, so getting a game against the Wanderers is huge for them."
Piddock said his message to the team was to go out there and enjoy the occasion, don't be afraid and pressure the opposition.
"We're going in with a very young team and without any recognised strikers, so we've got to make sure we're very hard to break down," he said.
"But we can't just sit back the whole time, not against the A-League teams. If you do that, they'll get you eventually. You can't be too gung-ho, but when there's a chance to go for it you've got to take it.
"You always have to go in believing you can win and we've got a game plan we think can cause them trouble. We have to execute that 100 per cent the whole time - that's the challenge. If we do that, I think we've got a chance."
