Glenrowan footballer kicks 27 goals in a single match

RECKON Buddy Franklin and Jack Riewoldt are good in front of goals? Wait til you hear the story about a part-time forward from Glenrowan, who booted a staggering 27 goals on the weekend.

GLENROWAN is better known as Kelly country than a goalkicking hotspot.

But a gun performance from footballer Matthew Robinson has finally put the northeast Victorian town on the map for a reason other than Ned Kelly’s last stand.

Robinson last week kicked 27 goals in a single game, slotting 11 majors in the final quarter to go with bags of four, six and six in the previous terms.

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Glenrowan footballer Matt Robinson has kicked an incredible 27 goals in a match. Picture: Simon Dallinger

Ovens and King footy opponent Bonnie Doon was helpless as Robinson booted his team to a 49.16 (310) to 9.2 (56) triumph, breaking a league record for most goals by a player in the process.

“I had one of those days where everything just seemed to come off,’’ he said.

A chippie by trade, part-time full forward Robinson reckons he missed three or four shots at goal but grew in confidence with every major.

“I wasn’t really going out there to kick a big bag … but they just kept going through,’’ he said.

“But they just kept going through.’’

Glenrowan footballer Matt Robinson has kicked an incredible 27 goals in a match. Picture: Simon Dallinger

Glenrowan president Joe Bedendo reckons his ”very shy (and) very thin built’’ forward could have kicked 30 goals if he hadn’t dished off about five to teammates.

“He’s only a little bloke but he’s quick and he can jump,’’ he said.

“And he’s very accurate by foot.’’

He said Robinson, 28, created the goalfest with two players on him most of the day.

“He’s a very shy sort of guy but he does his talking through footy,’’ he said.

In another win for Glenrowan, Robinson’s record eclipsed the former Ovens and King mark for goals kicked in a single match (22), previously held by their arch-enemy Greta.

“It’s nice to take that one off their mantelpiece,’’ Robinson said.

Robinson said he felt slightly guilty to notch his feat against a Bonnie Doon team enduring “a bit of a tough year’’ but reflected that Glenrowan had faced its own on-field problems recently.

He was proud to make history in a Glenrowan jumper stamped with an image of a Tiger wearing Kelly’s iconic metal helmet.

“I get a bit wayward sometimes so it was nice to kick a few,’’ he said.

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