A two-club father-son prospect debuts as Calder Cannons edge Bendigo

A potential Geelong or North Melbourne father-son was among seven debutants for Calder Cannons in a thrilling comeback win over Bendigo Pioneers.

Matt Weber celebrates his match-winning goal with Zac Taylor.

Seven players made their Calder Cannons debut in Sunday’s comeback win over Bendigo, including a Geelong and North Melbourne father-son prospect.

Darby Scott, 18, is the son of North Melbourne premiership player Robert and brother of current Kangaroos Bailey.

Splitting his time between midfield and attack, he finished the game with 11 disposals, two tackles and a pair of behinds.

Paul Pascu, Ben Morgan, Caleb Burquest, Matthew Gook, Max Taylor and Lachlan Hollibone also stepped out for their first NAB League games.

Cannons coach Ross Smith was impressed with his batch of youngsters.

Paul Pascu makes his NAB League debut for Calder Cannons.

Sam Paea gets his kick away for Calder Cannons.

“Darby looked lively, he was quite dangerous, we played him up forward and through the middle at times,” Smith said.

“Paul Pascu is going to be a pretty good player, an inside mid, really tough, had 14 touches in his first game playing half forward and half through the middle.

“We had two new rucks – Seth Robinson broke his wrist and Liam Podhajski is still at Bullants – Lachie Hollibone is a 202cm bloke and played pretty well and Matthew Gook surprised me with how well he handled the speed of the game.”

Ciaran Wrigglesworth earned best-on-ground honours for his role on star Pioneers midfielder Xavier Mitchell.

Zac Taylor finished with a game-high 23 disposals as well as eight marks and five tackles as he continues his impressive season.

Flynn Lakey stamped himself as the No.1 clearance player in the NAB League with 22 touches, while Josh Goater, Riley Mason and Harrison Andronaco also collected 20 or more possessions.

“Zac Taylor continues to find plenty of the footy, he’s good in the clearances and has a touch of class – time and space when he has the ball.

“Flynn Lakey is the leading clearance player in the whole competition at the moment.

Riley Mason in action for Calder Cannons.

Ben Morgan spoils Jason Gillbee’s marking attempt.

“Every time I go back and watch his game, I realise he’s played better than I thought, he’s so in-and-under you miss the quick hands he has.

“Harrison Andronaco played half forward and half mid, he keeps surprising me, he’s probably the toughest kid of that size that I’ve seen.”

Trailing by 15 point at three-quarter-time due to horrendous inaccuracy in front of goal, the Cannons kicked the final three goals of the match to snatch victory by six points.

Calder were 2.17 at the final change but finally found their radar to run over the top of Bendigo, 7.22 (64) to 9.4 (58).

Matt Weber kicked the match-winning goal.

Smith said whatever the result, his team was clearly the dominant force on the day.

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“It wasn’t really a comeback because we dominated the game all day,” he said.

“I was thinking about my post-match (address) with five minutes to go and I intending to be really positive because you could see we were clearly dominant.

“We were behind all day because of the way we were kicking for goal.

“We were winning the clearances comfortable, winning the inside 50s comfortably and when you look at the stats in black and white there’s probably not a stat that Bendigo won to be honest.”