Young gun Nevin confident of Finals football

Promising Young Matildas star Courtney Nevin is confident of a finals place at the end of the season as her Football NSW Institute side continues to impress in the 2018 NPL NSW Women’s top tier competition.

Goals have certainly not been a problem for the Football NSW Institute side as they’ve banged home 35 so far this year and are currently leading the charts for the most goals scored.

Left-footed goal scoring magician Courtney Nevin has provided seven of those 35 goals with a free kick in their round three fixture against the Blacktown Spartans labelled a contender for “goal of the season.”

Playing against teams that most of the time have ten to fifteen years more experience, you would expect the young Institute side to struggle in getting some runs on the board – but peppered with Young Matildas talent and exceptional up and coming stars, the team has proven to many pundits that they aren’t here to simply make up the numbers.

Nevin believes that what her team lacks in experience, they make up for in hard work and passion for the game, which has been the key asset to their success thus far.

“The other teams do have a lot more knowledge and experience compared to us, but we have a quality group of girls.

“We work as hard as we can, and we have a lot of heart.

“We are really motivated and Leah [Blayney] is a great coach, who works just as hard.”

In their last two rounds, the Institute have taken out some big scalps, the Macarthur Rams, who were sitting at number two on the ladder, and Sydney University who were in top spot and since round three, we’ve seen the young girls skyrocket from eleventh place to fifth.

One area the Institute have lacked however has been conceding goals and Nevin knows that to get to finals football, this is one area the team needs to improve on.

“We do need to work on gelling together, especially in our defence.

“Not conceding as much and moving the ball around more.”

Not one to shy away from extra work, Nevin shared that she also has a custom made goal which she practices with at home.

“A few years ago, my Dad who is in the engineering/metal industry, decided to build a goal for me to practice with in the backyard, which I still use now.”

For Nevin, playing in the NPL NSW Women’s top tier league is critical to her success when playing for the Young Matildas and in the W-League.

“The NPL NSW Women’s competition is of high quality and standard.

“Playing against senior opposition, you gain so much knowledge and experience as you need to push yourself to the limit.”

Being part of the Football NSW Institute Program has been an important part of Nevin’s football career and the youngster highlighted just how important an investment this is for the women’s game.

“The women’s game is continually on the rise thanks to the promotion of the Matildas who are helping the younger generation and inspiring them to one day become Matildas of their own.”

-By Liana Buratti