Bendigo City under-18s relish opportunity to tackle Melbourne Victory

Bendigo City hosts Melbourne Victory in its first home game of the NPL1 under-18 season.

While Bendigo City faces a monumental task to defeat Victory, the opportunity the game and the day itself offers is what excites coach Greg Thomas the most.

"It's a great opportunity for our club and the wider Bendigo community,'' Thomas said.

"Young kids in Bendigo can watch the best 16 and 17-year-olds from Bendigo go against some of the best kids in Australia.

"If some of our players have great games against Victory you just never know what that could lead to.

"A Victory coach or scout might see something that they like and doors could open.

"I have no doubt that some of our players could play in the Melbourne Victory side or other A-League clubs.

"It's a massive opportunity for them, but the main thing is that the boys go out and enjoy themselves."

It would be easy for Bendigo City to implement a defensive mindset against one of the elite underage squads in Australia, but that's not Thomas' style.

"We're not going to park the bus,'' Thomas said.

"We've earned the right to play in division one and we want to showcase our skills.

"We make sure we'll set up well defensively, but we'll also try to take the game to them.

"We're not going to die wondering and, hopefully, we put on a good show."

Some of the Melbourne Victory players have been involved in the club's academy program from a young age.

"It's not just the best kids from Victoria, they (Melbourne Victory) have identified some of the best kids in Australia,'' Thomas said.

"They train four to five days a week and some of the players are basically full-time and in their A-League squad.

"Training that much compared to the two times we train does make a difference.

"Credit to our boys that they are where they are. We're not going to sit back and think they're the best kids around.

"It's another game of football and, as I told our boys, Victory are just another group of 16 and 17-year-olds like us."

The under-18 game starts a big afternoon and evening for Bendigo City.

The Bendigo City seniors and reserves host Deakin University in round seven of State League Five action.

The seniors sit in fourth place on the ladder with four wins and two losses from six games.

They're six and three points respectively behind top-two teams West Point and Balmoral. The top-two teams at the end of the season earn promotion to State League Four.

"To have the under-18s followed by the seniors, it's a big day for the club and we're hoping to get plenty of support from the wider football community,'' Thomas said.

"It's a must-win game for the seniors against a club that's mid-table."

Deakin University is in seventh place with two wins and four losses.

After dropping last week's game to Lara United 2-0, Thomas said Bendigo City needed to improve its attacking play.

"We need to lift across the board, but at the same time we need to score more goals against the better sides,'' Thomas said.

"We've really worked on our front third work in a bid to create some more chances.

"We're in games against these top sides, but we're not taking our chances. We need to be more clinical."

The under-18 game starts at 1pm, followed by the reserves at 3pm and the seniors at 5pm.

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