Defender Curtis Good entered his debut professional season with the modest goal of making 10 appearances for Melbourne Heart FC.
Defender Curtis Good entered his debut professional season with the modest goal of making 10 appearances for Melbourne Heart FC.
Six months later, the 19-year old looms as a pivotal figure as Heart seeks to claim victory in its first ever Hyundai A-League Finals Series match against Perth Glory at nib Stadium.
Making 24 appearances, Good has been ever present this campaign, seamlessly completing the transition from the Australian Institute of Sport to the hustle and bustle of top flight football.
Good-s off-field demeanour is as impressive as his competence on it, having impressed both his team mates and the wider football community with his maturity and poise.
But despite possessing an attitude belying his years, Good admits he is nervous ahead of Sunday-s cut throat match-up.
“I haven’t experienced (finals football), so I don’t know what to expect. It’s a shame it’s not a home final, but it will be a good experience,” he said.
“Nerves are normal. If you’re not nervous, there’s something wrong with you.”
In a baptism of fire, Good is set to line-up against arguably the Hyundai A-League-s leading marksman in Shane Smeltz, who only last week surpassed Archie Thompson as the competition-s all-time leading scorer with a stellar four goals against Melbourne Victory.
Having faced Smeltz before, Good is well aware of the challenge that awaits him and central defensive partner Brendan Hamill at nib Stadium.
Good believes maintaining a vigilance regarding Smeltz at all times is key to curbing his influence on the encounter, given the New Zealand international-s remarkable ability to conjure chances from seemingly innocuous situations.
“His four goals (against Victory last week) were quality, probably not the best time for him to be scoring goals like that,” he said.
“He scored two in Round 2 (against Heart). He’s quite an intelligent player, he’s one of those players who will be quiet for a while, but he’ll step up with two goals within 10 minutes, so you’ve always got to stay focused on him.”
