“I got to training on a Tuesday night as usual and he [James Robinson] asked me to come a bit early and just said I’m playing in goals, it was a bit of an out of the blue thing. I didn’t expect it,” Ballarat Red Devils attacking midfielder Michael Trigger says.
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We’ve all been there before when playing FIFA or Football Manager. Your goalkeeper(s), for whatever reason, can’t play a game, and you’re forced to pick an outfielder. What to look for? Their height or strength? Ability on the ball? Reflexes? Pace?
James Robinson faced this dilemma on the pitch when Aaron Romein picked up a red card in a 4-1 defeat against Dandenong City at Frank Holohan Soccer Complex.
His choice? Opting for the side’s star #10 due to his ability on the ball. With further indifference towards career goalkeepers who have crafted their reflexes and positioning over many years, shot stopping was hardly a focus for Trigger on the training ground that week.
The compelling approach may have raised a few eyebrows, but when contemplating the opponent – an away trip to Melbourne City – the task seemed even more improbable.
“We just decided we were going to play a player in goals just because of our game plan, our defence was structured around playing out from the back and we just needed someone who could pass the ball well out of the back and I got picked to do that,” Trigger says.
“I barely played in goals at training. We only did about 10 minutes of keeping per se and that was in a game situation. There wasn’t that much keeping involved at all, it was just mainly about playing out the back and how we play to beat Melbourne City.”
The move was either going to make Robinson look like a complete genius, or an utter madman.
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Just a glance at the result – a 1-0 away victory – and it looks like a marked improvement to the Red Devils. After all, following a tumultuous year to date both on and off the pitch, Ballarat sat mid-table, scoring 12 and conceding 18 goals in just six games – averaging two for and three against each week.
But considering an outfielder kept the club’s first clean sheet of the season, the feat is even more remarkable.
It doesn’t stop there – after Dom Swinton’s 47th minute strike, the side had to hold on to the slender lead with 10 men for half an hour following Josh Romein’s 62nd minute red card.
Trigger’s key moment came from a curling left-footed free-kick from Phil Petreski, diving to his right to palm the ball away.
Somehow, the stars aligned for the visitors to take home the three points, with Trigger’s performance nothing like Rio Ferdinand between the sticks for Manchester United against Portsmouth in 2008 – or, going even further back, Peter Bardsley’s performance for Newcastle in an 8-1 loss to West Ham in 1986 – rather resembling more a then-Sheffield United defender Phil Jagielka denying Robin Van Persie in a 1-0 win in 2006.
“I’ve always played outfield. With the game plan, the boys protected me well when we didn’t have the ball and we defended really well, we pressured them from the front,” Trigger says.
“They only really had two chances on the day, I only made a few saves here or there, but credit to the boys who worked hard on the pitch.”
Trigger admits shoring up the defence had been a key focus in recent weeks, with Ballarat squandering winning positions by conceding soft goals.
While playing an outfielder between the sticks may seem counterproductive when looking for more security at the back, it was the overall focus on cutting out opposition supply before it reached the keeper that translated onto the pitch on game day.
“We know we can always create chances by pressing from the front and we have lots of players all over the pitch who can score goals, but it’s about shoring up at the back and we did that on the weekend,” Trigger says.
“Maybe that was in the back of their minds [defending well to keep the ball away from goal], but it’s something we’ve been working on for a while, so hopefully it’s the same when Aaron returns as well so he doesn’t have to do too much in goals.
“Similar to me, he plays the ball out well, so hopefully that’s the only thing he’ll have to do when he returns.
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The Round 7 encounter was just another interesting chapter in the storybook of Trigger’s career to date for the Ballarat local.
After rising through the ranks in the region, there came a short stint in Queensland with North Queensland Fury in 2013, and an even shorter stint at Hume City in 2016.
Joining the Broadmeadows outfit in pre-season, Trigger returned to Ballarat on the eve of the NPL season – luckily for him, missing the ownership issues that left Robinson momentarily replaced by Savas Saglam and the playing refusing to train under the new regime.
“It just didn’t work out for me, I’m based in Ballarat so I couldn’t fully commit with the travel, which was more than I initially anticipated,” Trigger says.
“Hume was a great experience but I was welcomed back at Ballarat with open arms by the boys and personally I think that worked out the best for all parties. It was like I never left when I came back, despite the turmoil in the off-season that the boys got through.
“I’ve always lived in Ballarat and played my juniors here and all that. I did briefly in Queensland but that wasn’t my cup of tea either, it was too hot and I prefer Victorian weather.
“I’ve got no bad words to say about Robbo [Robinson]. He’s brought a professional culture to the club and everyone from the ground up has embraced that – the new board and even the juniors from the U12s have embraced that and we all believe in ourselves and it’s been like that since James came on board.
“We’re all a tight bunch and we’re mates on and off the pitch and we all play for each other.”
Whether the result acts as a springboard for the Red Devils to launch themselves up the NPL2 West table and catch the currently unstoppable Whittlesea Ranges remains to be seen, but the one certainty is the usually trigger-happy midfielder is raring to return to what he does best, adding a creative spark to the front third that saw him score nine goals in 2015 and assist many more.
“It’s been a bit of a topsy turvy season but our ambitions don’t change, we still want to improve our performances and our ambitions are nothing short of winning the competition and getting back in the NPL,” Trigger says.
“I was confident the boys would execute the game plan and it worked wonders, but I don’t plan on playing in goals again anytime soon – it was a bit nerve-racking, but at the same time we got the three points and that was the main thing.”