NELSON Bay Football Club’s well-established nursery is bubbling with home-grown talent.
In a true testament of the club’s all-round depth, the Bay featured in 10 grand finals last weekend in the Newcastle Football Community inter-district competitions.
One of the success stories for Nelson Bay FC this season has been the performances of the under-18s A Grade boys team that finished runners-up to the all-conquering New Lambton FC after a 2-0 loss at Adamstown.
The Bay under-18s entered the grand final as clear underdogs against the undefeated Eagles, who were heavily favoured to win the premiership-championship double.
New Lambton FC is one of the region’s football powerhouses with National Premier League (NPL) men’s and women’s programs; Premier Youth League boys’ and girls’ programs; numerous representative-level players; and highly experienced coaching staff, as well as strong representative pathways and a history of championship success.
In contrast, Nelson Bay FC is a community-based club with no representative teams, making its grand final appearance a remarkable achievement.
Co-coaches Carlo Labra and Daniel Mackenzie have built a strong team-first culture focused on resilience, effort and belief with a talented squad that consisted of local players aged 16 to 18 years of age.
In the championship decider the Bay missed some early opportunities to score and battled courageously against the well-drilled Eagles combination.
Nelson Bay reached the championship decider after eliminating Merewether Advance in a dramatic preliminary final decided by penalties.
The win was particularly significant because Merewether had defeated the Bay during the regular season, making the finals victory a redemption story.
Merewether’s squad included several former representative players, adding further significance to the feat.
A proud mentor told News Of The Area that his under-18s charges had overcome adversity during the season to reach the end-of-year finals series.
“The team battled injuries all season but other players stepped up to fill key roles and keep the campaign on track,” Carlo revealed.
“One of our best midfielders, Tyler Holland, spent a significant time sidelined through injury and missed the grand final but despite the challenges, the boys developed into one of the competition’s most balanced teams.”
Competing in the top division, the Nelson Bay Colts finished as the second-best defensive and third-best attacking team in the competition.
Key players included promising goalkeeper Connor Grinyer, who was a major reason behind the competition’s second-best defence; tireless left back Matt Diemar; defensive leader Orlando Labra-Knox, whose communication and organisation at centre back proved instrumental to the team’s success; super-fit centre midfielder Luka Gutsulyak, who was a tyro with his work rate across the park; left midfield organiser Bayley Jennings and super-boot Ethan McFadden, a skilful striker and clinical finisher who helped make Nelson Bay one of the competition’s most effective attacking forces.
Other players to shine were defenders Marley Telfer, Lincoln Mackenzie and Pat Ison; midfielders Holland, Daniel Clements, Harry McTernan and Riley Hanks and emerging striker Hamish Clark.
By Chris KARAS
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