Football can often be unforgiving for a young footballer, who despite proving themselves in pre-season or on the training ground, still find themselves behind a more experienced counterpart in their team’s pecking order.
Then, after being afforded a few minutes off the bench or a rare start, should they not take a chance in the cut-throat environment of a top flight competition, where the loss of silverware or the threat of relegation looms as a constant reminder of the perils of poor form, it can be difficult to work one’s way back into senior contention.
That was no issue for youngster Matt Conversano recently, who after biding his time despite scoring regularly in pre-season, grasped his chance to make a major impact for Pascoe Vale.
Following a barren run for Paco, he was handed a start by Vitale Ferrante in the Round 7 clash against Richmond, and he made the most of his opportunity by scoring and assisting to justify his starting place in the side and give his coach a selection headache for future weeks – not that his personal performance provided much consolation following another draw at CB Smith Reserve.
“Personally i was pleased with my performance, but it doesn’t feel as good when you walk into a dressing room that’s all dead and you prefer the win,” Conversano said.
“A goal, assist and a win would feel so much better than what it does now.
“I’m happy with my performance and hope I can build on it for this club.”
Despite his best efforts – pouncing on Yusei Kitade’s saved effort before playing the final pass for Jake Nakic’s goal to help his side to a 2-0 lead – the young striker couldn’t prevent another Pascoe Vale draw, which leaves last year’s preliminary-finalists still looking for their first win since Round 2.
“It’s a case of luck deserting us at crucial moments, I haven’t seen this team this season play as well as we did in that first half to get to 2-0,” he said.
“But the team who, to their credit defended well didn’t create a whole lot of chances, but here we are at 2-2 … what can you do?”
In a tactical switch, Ferrante deployed the youngster alongside former Victory youth Nakic, and the duo seemed to thrive in front of Yusei Kitade in the number 10 role, with the likes of Joseph Youssef and Luca Santilli – the latter coming off the bench – also feeding the strikers who could have had a higher goal tally if not for the efforts of Richmind keeper Gian Tapia.
“I personally like playing with two up front its something that V was working on throughout the week, and that combination in the diamond with the two strikers up front, there’s not much that can stop us,” he said.
“We created chance after chance, so I think that combination, that four-four-two, will work a treat in the long run.
“We would have five shots in the last 15 minutes – Gian Tapia to his credit had an absolute blinder.”
The year 12 student’s development has continued in 2016 after a handful of appearances last season since his move from Hume City, with his more regular competitive involvements further driving his motivation, and consigning the painful memories of a broken leg deeper into history.
While he couldn’t do much to prevent the defensive lapses that allowed Richmond to wrestle their way back into the contest, he says the whole team has been working hard to turn around their form and emulate the kind of barnstorming results that saw the underdogs become one of the competition’s heavyweights in 2015.
“One thing about this club, the change room is never dull, it’s always very resilient,” he said.
“I don’t think there’d be an NPL club with the same core group of players for such a long period of time, but at the same time no-one likes losing.
“So we’ve got to be able to make that dressing room feel just all that more vibrant with a win.”
Image: Graeme Furlong