Saturday night oversaw four goals and a clean sheet for a resurgent Melbourne Heart who, despite the result, were experiencing a mini selection crisis at the back.
Ben Garuccio deputised at left back for the suspended Aziz Behich, and did a fantastic job keeping Archie Thompson and co. at bay, despite drifting from his more favoured advanced position on the wing.
“Yeah I’ve done a little bit in the national team,” he said discussing his previous experience at left back.
“I thought it would be a good challenge when John [van ‘t Schip] said ‘Are you confident to play there’ and I thought yeah I’ll try it and grab it with both hands.”
With Behich returning this weekend, along with the versatile Patrick Gerhardt, van’ t Schip suddenly has options in defence for their clash against Newcastle Jets.
Whether Garuccio is consigned back to the bench is a decision for the coach, but with his performance on the weekend, he would be hard pressed to lose his spot in the starting eleven.
“It’s not really in my hands, I guess it’s [van ‘t Schip’s] decision and whatever happens, if he wants to play me then I’ll be there.
“I’ll give my best effort; if not I’m happy to come off the bench and I’ll give my best effort either way for the team.”
The youngster, regardless of whether he starts this week or not, would’ve been proud of his performance against the Victory, despite some early nerves trying to get the better of him.
“At the start I was a little bit nervous but once I got my first few touches it was good,” he said.
“When you’ve got players like Orlando and Patrick Kisnorbo next to you, helping you, it really gives you a lot of confidence.”
It’s almost hard to believe that last week’s match was his first start of the season, after largely being overlooked under John Aloisi.
He confessed his frustration at not playing in the first half of the season, but maturely admitted his omission was due to consistency issues, which Aloisi addressed with him.
“It’s always hard as a player. You always want to be out there but at the end of the day I just thought you know, I’ve just got to keep on working hard.
“I spoke to John [Aloisi] a lot and he game me things I needed to work on.
“A lot was to do with consistency and I think that was true. I would have one good game, and then maybe one bad game or two bad games, especially when you’re going to step into the first team, you’ve really got to deliver every week.”
The return of coach John van’ t Schip has seen not only a return to form for Heart, but a return to playing time for the 18 year-old, who has played a part in every win this season to date.
“He’s definitely instilled that confidence back in us but the belief was never really lost,” he said.
“He just came back in and said ‘I want you boys to get that confidence back and start playing football again’.
“Once everybody started believing that, we’re a better footballing side now and that’s just the reason I think we’ve turned things around so well.”
Melbourne Heart travel to Hunter Stadium on Saturday to play the Newcastle Jets in what promises to be a true six pointer. Kick-off is scheduled for 5:30pm as both teams fight it out for a spot in the A-League finals series.