12-minute hat-trick shows Cater is back
A STUNNING 12-minute hat-trick is proof that Mareeba United’s Steven Cater has barely missed a step in his return to the FNQ Premier League competition.
Cater’s haul was part of an unbelievable five-goal assault against Southside Comets in the first 15 minutes of their Premier League game on Sunday, and while the Bulls eventually won 5-2, the result was only part of the story.
At the heart of it is a reborn Cater, the former state league striker who is in his first full season of Premier League since 2018.
It’s a season he originally did not intend to play.
“I wasn’t going to play at all this year, we just had a girl, but I got talked into coming back and playing and I’ve loved it,” Cater said.
Mareeba United coach Angelo Tatti must be happy he changed his mind and laced up the boots, after all.
Cater, in just six games for the Bulls, is their leading goalscorer with nine goals. The Bulls’ next best, Dylan Cummings, has three goals.
The striker matched his nearest rival’s season tally in one afternoon, but Cater doesn’t take all of the credit.
“It was a bit of a shock,” he said of Sunday’s effort.
“You go out there and want to start well, but I’ve never seen or been part of
anything like it before.
“It’s hard to play at that intensity for 90 minutes and Southside probably lifted a bit being their home game.
“But I was just getting into position; it was down to the boys getting the ball in the right spot.”
Those boys – Darcy McCormack, Robert Pendenza, former A-League gun Wayne Srhoj – are among the men who are helping mould this Mareeba side into one which could challenge for a grand final berth again this year.
The Bulls made the 2020 grand final but suffered a forgettable 7-0 thumping to Edge Hill United.
That is in the past, though the experience has steeled the
men from over the range, and despite a slow start they are picking up the pace.
They have won three of their past four games, and found the scoring touch which eluded them in the first two months of competition.
Central to that is Cater, a long-term Bull who is Mareeba through and through, having turned out for the club’s state league side and played in several successes over his decade-plus career in orange.
He’s had a few breaks along the way, but his longest absence, in 2019-20, came after he ruptured his Achilles during an off-season training session.
He returned to the Bulls in 2020, primarily playing for
the reserve grade side – and scoring a brace in their Crad Evans triumph against Burdekin – and stepped into the top team for four games.
“It helped that the season was pushed back a bit (last year) but I stuck to reserves, and this year I’ve been welcomed back to the Premier League team, and it’s gone well,” Cater said.
“We’ve been through a few different players with injuries and suspensions, but everyone is fitting in.
“We had five starters out of that side on Sunday but everyone’s chipping in. It’s a whole club mentality.”
The Bulls face Stratford at Nick Brko Field on Saturday, in a battle for third.