The future is bright for Belconnen United as two teenagers triumphed and secured the Blue Devils' place among the powerhouses of Capital Football with a 4-0 thrashing of the Monaro Panthers on Saturday.
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It took just minutes for starting striker Jonathan Leayr to net his maiden goal in the second half and help create momentum for the home side at McKellar Park.
Monaro attempted to clear the ball out of their defensive end before Leayr entered the fray and chipped it into the top right corner. The talented teen nearly took a double moments later when he received the ball from the right sideline but narrowly missed the post.
Belconnen coach Steve Forshaw had nothing but praise for the starting debutante and teammate Max Mellick who also scored his maiden goal.
"They came on and performed like seasoned professionals," Forshaw said.
"Max never scores in the under 20's but then gets one in first grade? I'll have a word with him about that.
"It came at a time when we were on top and dominating. We needed that just to capitalise on our dominance."
Meanwhile Monaro couldn't break through the Blue Devils' dominant defensive wall. Young keeper Finn Jurak shone with seven spectacular saves and denied the visitors a single point.
"I think he's the best keeper in the league but I might be biased," Forshaw said.
"He's a fantastic young talent."
Assistant coach Daniel Macor believes the senior players set the tone for the winning side. Midfielders Taylor Beaton, Luca Macor and Zac Maybury controlled the offensive transitions with ease while Adrian Macor scored the opening goal.
"The club is going through a rebuild," Macor said.
"The senior players understand that the new generation is coming through. You need a combination of both to be successful and results are going to go up-and-down but today was superb.
"It was all about the young boys this week and I think the performance from the senior boys carried us through."
The triumph comes after two consecutive losses to Canberra Olympic and Tuggeranong United. Forshaw said the victory was important in establishing their form going into the second half of the season.
"It was a really good performance on the back of two disappointing results," Forshaw said.
"They knew they hadn't performed up to their own standard last week. But they trained well during the week and were a far more lively bunch.
"No matter what happened with the result they wanted a good performance for their own benefit.
"Fortunately they've put in a good shift and got the reward. The writing was on the wall early in the piece that we might get a result today. It's great to be back on track."
Meanwhile, Canberra Olympic continued their dominant form with a 8-1 thrashing over the eighth-placed Riverina Rhinos at the AIS to leave the Rhinos searching for their first win of the season.
Woden-Weston bounced back after four straight losses with a 2-0 victory over Tuggeranong United at Melrose Synethic.
The undefeated Tigers will look to extend their dream start to the season when they take on Gungahlin United at Nijong Oval on Sunday. Third-placed Canberra FC have the bye.
AT A GLANCE
CANBERRA NPL ROUND EIGHT
Saturday: Canberra Olympic 8 bt Riverina Rhinos 1. Belconnen United 4 bt Monaro Panthers 0. Woden-Weston 2 bt Tuggeranong United 0.
Lucie Bertoldo
Lucie Bertoldo is a sports reporter for the Canberra Times.
Lucie Bertoldo is a sports reporter for the Canberra Times.
