NYAH-Nyah West United forward Max Thompson lived out every boy’s dream on Sunday, with the 16-year-old kicking the match winning goal in his debut for the Bendigo Pioneers in Swan Hill.
Thompson’s goal came in the dying minutes of the match, with the Pioneers overcoming a slow start to defeat the GWV Rebels by three points.
Having trailed by 20-points at half time, the Pioneers turned their fortunes around in the second half, with the Koondrook-Barham midfielder Harry Bremner also playing a starring role in the final quarter comeback.
It was a debut to remember for Thompson however, with Bendigo Pioneers coach Danny O’Bree impressed with the midfielder/forward’s first game in the Coates Talent League.
“A couple of decisions ‘Maxie’ (Max Thompson) made going inside 50 was something we’ve been lacking for the last three games,” O’Bree told The Guardian after the match.
“For a 16-year-old, playing his first game to have that composure and hit his targets was impressive, he had three or four shots on goal and he probably got a bit excited, but then to have that composure to kick the sealer for us with his first goal was pretty impressive.
“He came off at one stage during the game and and said the speed and the pressure was something else.
“It was pretty good that he was able to work through that and contribute in such a positive way in his first match.”
It was a tale of two halves for the Pioneers, who were slow out of the blocks in front of a big crowd at the Swan Hill Recreation Reserve.
After bemoaning his teams poor first half, O’Bree was then full of praise for his players’ response after receiving some honest feedback at the break.
“It was a pretty frustrating first half where we probably just didn’t play how we wanted to play,” O’Bree said.
“We didn’t play with intent or physicality and I think everyone was a bit frustrated.
“At half time we just sort of asked what was going on, we put it back on them and had a good chat about it and then I just thought we were excellent after halftime.
“I was really impressed with our third quarter even though we didn’t make any headway on the scoreboard, it just looked like a different game and we played the way we wanted to play the game.
“I thought we moved the ball okay and our intent, our physicality and our pressure really lifted in the third quarter and it just sort of set us up when we started to get a little bit of confidence from it.
“It was completely different to the first half where we were over running ground balls, missing tackles, really basic stuff and making some silly errors.
“Full credit to Ballarat (GWV Rebels), they they did exactly what we wanted to do in the first half; they didn’t allow us to and they came at us a bit and maybe we didn’t know how to handle that, but I thought then we really turned the tables on them in the second half.”
Also in action for the Bendigo Pioneers was NNW United’s Ethan Curran, Tyntynder’s Pat Blake and Koondrook-Barham’s Ryan Bassett and Bremner, with O’Bree also impressed with their performances.
“I thought Pat Blake’s pressure all day was exactly how we want to play, like he just epitomizes how we want to play,” O’Bree said.
“He plays hard nosed football and unfortunately he copped one in the nose and lip in the first quarter doing exactly that, but he was really good.
“I thought Ethan Curran was good, especially when we switched him to play as permanent onballer probably halfway through the second quarter and I thought that was a really pivotal move for Ethan.
“I thought Harry Bremner was was excellent all day and gave us a real spark, especially in the second half.
“We actually flipped him forward in the last quarter and I can’t remember if he kicked two goals or one, but he certainly set up a couple of goals on top of the ones he kicked and he was just fantastic for us.
“I thought he was one of our best all day and he produced a really consistent effort.”
Also in action was the Bendigo Pioneers girls team, who also hosted the GWV Rebels in Swan Hill on Sunday, with the Rebels claiming a 65-point win.
NNW United’s Issy Boulton was one of four goal kickers for the Pioneers and was named among their better players in their 14.9 (93) to 4.4 (28) defeat.
It was the fourth time in six games Boulton has been among Bendigo’s better players, with the midfielder not only finding plenty of the football but using it efficiently as well.
The Mallee Eagles’ Nevaeh Roberts was also in action for the Pioneers’ girls side, with Sunday’s loss her first game for the season, while Woorinen’s Sunny Barry played her debut game for the Pioneers Talent League team, after coming up from the clubs under 16s squad.
