EDFL: Young guns stand tall for Glenroy

Glenroy’s young guns impressed as a big recruit came back to haunt his former side as the Roys recorded their first win of the season on Saturday.

Wins mean everything to a footy team but there are those that mean that little bit more.

Glenroy’s victory against Westmeadows was the latter.

After a difficult off-season which saw a complete refresh of the club’s playing list, many expected the Essendon District league club to struggle in a big way this season.

But Saturday’s Division 1 10.16 (76) to 10.6 (66) victory over Westmeadows, who has faced its own issues, marked a significant moment in the Roys’ next chapter.

Despite what had been a difficult start to the season before the weekend, Glenroy coach Dean Young said belief had continued to grow with his young group.

Young’s side trailed at every break, including 10 points at the final change, before storming home with the victory.

“In the previous game against Tullamarine it all just clicked in the second half, despite us not coming away with the win,” he said.

“We’ve just been setting ourselves little goals every game, every quarter and ticking those off as we go. The boys knew we had to just keep wearing them down and then take our opportunity.

“They stuck to their task and I’m really pleased for them. We’ve spoken about what’s ahead of us and there’s going to be different challenges but anything is possible.

“We’re going out there to improve every week.”

Cody Wight came back to haunt his former side with a best on ground display which included three goals.

He was just another player who built off a much improved second half performance against Tullamarine a week earlier.

“We had been up and about with him all week about facing his old team, it’s never an easy thing to do,” Young said.

“He just started clunking everything. He was a little worried about the goals but we told him no to worry because they were eventually going to come.”

Tanner Nilsson was in the best for Glenroy. Picture: Hamish Blair

Several of Glenroy’s youngsters continued their impressive starts to the season headlined by Amin Musa and Julian Mosarevski.

Matthew Laskowski, Mark Sabatino, Daniel Ferraro and Tanner Nilsson were also among the Roys’ better players.

“It was fantastic to see those young guys stand up especially in the big moments of the game,” Young said.

“We’ve got quite a few in the side this year and they’re learning plenty. James Nader is another young guy who has been impressive the past couple of weeks.

“We started him forward in the first couple of games and he didn’t have the impact he probably would have liked but we’ve moved him down back and he’s looked so much more comfortable.

“He’s been 120 per cent better and he stood up again for us. It’s always nice when a good backman just falls into your lap.”

Saturday’s clash also saw headline off-season recruit Paul Pascue make his debut for the club.

Shaun Knott booted four goals for Westmeadows while James Taglieri and Michael Portelli were named among their side’s better players.

Glenroy will next welcome Deer Park while Westmeadows travels to take on West Coburg.