From juniors to seniors in one big afternoon
HE was plucked from the junior ranks to make his men’s NPL debut for Gold Coast United on Saturday night.
But 16-year-old striker Hayden Anderson is far from content with his fleeting taste of the big time as the struggling Surfsiders search for positives in a season of NPL gloom.
With Anderson netting his seventh goal of the Under-16 NPL competition against ladder-leading Brisbane City on Saturday afternoon, men’s coach Sean Lane pulled a late shock by handing the Magic United junior a senior debut off the bench that night.
While his 15-minute stint could not prevent the hosts from slipping to a 5-2 loss to City, Anderson is hopeful he can enhance his reputation over the final five rounds. “I’d love to get another run with the men, I just love playing out there with them. I want more,” said Anderson, a member of the Queensland under-16 development squad.
“If I keep going the way I’m going I would hope (I will play again).
“Earlier that day I had my 16s game against the top of the ladder and Sean said I had my best game of the season so far, so he pulled me up to the senior game without any training leading up to it. I’d only met like two (of the players).
“He just said to me ‘go out there and have fun, be you and if you get the ball just be yourself’. I wasn’t that nervous.” “It was good fun, I loved it.” Sitting ninth, Gold Coast United host champions Western Pride on Saturday.