How Andrew Redmayne became Western Sydney’s unsung hero

GOALS grab headlines, but Andrew Redmayne’s performances for the Wanderers are one of the key reasons the club will head into 2016 as league leaders.

Wanderers goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne gestures during the round 10 A-League match between the Western Sydney Wanderers and Melbourne Victory at Pirtek Stadium in Sydney, on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

IT’S goals that grab the headlines, but Andrew Redmayne’s performances with the gloves for the Wanderers have been just as important as the club head into 2016 clear at the top of the A-League table.

Western Sydney’s Christmas Eve win over the Newcastle Jets at Wanderland was their eighth in the last nine matches and means they haven’t lost a game since the third week of the season. Goals to Alberto and Mark Bridge sealed the victory, but Redmayne pulled off some crucial saves — as he’s done so much of in recent weeks — to preserve the clean sheet.

The former Melbourne City shot-stopper was one of several new faces to join the Wanderers at the start of the season and he had to fight off competition from Dean Bouzanis to replace Ante Covic as the club’s the first choice goalkeeper. Since then, his game has been elevated to the next level and he credits the Wanderers’ goalkeeping coach Zeljko ‘Spider’ Kalac.

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“He’s been immense,” Redmayne said. “He’s just someone who instils a lot of confidence in you, but also we’ve been working so hard on technical and tactical aspects of the game and I think that’s really starting to come to fruition.

“It’s been really nice. There’s a lot of confidence flowing through the team and I’m no exception, but having said that all the boys are working so well together and don’t give away many chances at the back.”

But Redmayne has some added competition to keep his spot with the recent signing of former Central Coast Mariners’ goalkeeper Liam Reddy, who hasn’t arrived simply to make up the numbers.

Reddy will be eligible to play from next month and Redmayne admits the competition is bound to keep him on his toes.

“To win the A-League you need a strong squad and Liam adds a lot of experience to the squad, hopefully we can keep up the good run.”

Given the new-look team, not many would have backed the Wanderers to be the team to beat at this point in the season, but Redmayne says the players aren’t at all surprised.

There’s also a real belief in the team that there’s plenty more to come.

“The possibilities are endless,” Redmayne said. “We know where we want to go and we know how to get there, it’s just whether the cards fall I guess.

Redmayne has been a fixture between the sticks so far this season.

“As players you’ve really got to believe in yourselves and what we’re doing. Everyone came in on day one of the preseason and was so focused at the start at really implementing the changes the boss wanted. I think we’ve really bought into it and we’re doing an exceptional job. Having said that, we’ll come into training next week knowing there’s a lot more work to go and room for improvement.”

For now, the players will get a bit of time to enjoy the restive period before the host Adelaide United on New Year’s Day.

“We can enjoy Christmas, but not too much,” he said. “We know with the longer week it’s going to be a hard, heavier week on the tracks. Nothing is taken for granted and there are no easy days at training, but I’m really looking forward to another solid week of learning.”

Originally published as How Andrew Redmayne became Western Sydney’s unsung hero