For Sydney FC forward Trent Buhagiar, his first Hyundai A-League goal took a little longer than expected.
Returning to the pitch after a season ending knee injury, the 21-year-old needed a combined 22 minutes off the bench to nab his maiden Sky Blue goal in the competition.
Buhagiar scored after just two minutes of coming onto the field and says it was a big relief to find the net again.
“To finally score my first A-League goal for the club is like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” he said.
“After a year out with my ACL injury it felt good to score and to be out on the pitch again.
“I’m a striker so it’s my job to score goals and make an impact when I come off the bench,” he added.
The Gosford born youngster has now scored five goals in eight games for the Sky Blues, surpassing his overall tally from his 50 appearances at the Mariners. But Buhagiar isn’t fazed by the pressure of playing his former club this Saturday night.
“I’m not thinking about it too much, it’s business as usual like any other game for me,” he said.
“I was there for a few years and it’s going to be the first time coming up against them for Sydney and it’s going to be a good match to be a part of.”
The involvement in the two goals on Saturday night shows just what Buhagiar can do when he gets the chance, but he accepts it will be hard for him to break into Head Coach Steve Corica’s starting line-up.
“Kosta [Barbarouses] and Alfie [Adam Le Fondre] have been doing really good, they’re scoring and assisting each other a lot recently,” Buhagiar said.
“It will hard to break into that top two but if I keep doing what I’m doing hopefully I can make them work harder.”
Sydney FC take on the Central Coast Mariners at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium this Saturday December 14th (kick off 7:30pm AEDT). Get there to watch your Sky Blues with tickets available now.
Header photo by Jaime Castaneda (@jamcas50)
