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A magic moment for United’s captain fantastic

Many take finding the net for granted, some do it for fun and others pop up with one every now and then to satisfy both the craving and the professional compulsion. But for Thwaite there was a sense of relief to go with the smile as wide as the Tasman after he expertly placed the ball past Melbourne Victory keeper Ante Covic to level the scores in the final seconds of Wednesday night’s clash in Launceston.

Those who know him or follow his career witness at on average two penetrating runs per game, usually taking in at least half the length of the field as he weaves his way towards the opposition’s penalty area.

More often than not he’s hauled to the ground as defenders converge on him, or a wild shot leaves the goalkeeper untroubled. But not on Wednesday night.

Taking a super lay off from Maceo Rigters in his stride, Thwaite saw the whites of the goalkeeper’s eyes before expertly placing his shot past the Melbourne custodian to rescue a last-gasp point for his side. It was a finish that suggested he had done it many times before, but he hasn’t; not even once in his time overseas or his previous 89 Hyundai A-League matches, 73 of them for Gold Coast.

The perennially popular defender is renowned for playing with a smile on his face, but few knew of the frustration that had been building for some time over the zero in his goals scored column. But from now on when fellow footballers talk about their most memorable net-finding feats, at least he can join in with the conversation.

“People talk about getting a monkey off their back when they score a goal after a drought – for me it was more like an obese gorilla,” Thwaite said.

“It was one aspect of my game that really bothered me. If I ended my career without scoring a goal I would be very upset and that thought has been building in my mind; almost a fear of not scoring which wasn’t helping when I got into good positions.

“The forward runs are something I’ve been doing for the whole of my career and finally it’s paid off. It was a really good team goal as well though. We moved the ball well, then Chris Harold found big Maceo who held off Milligan so I could take his pass – it was a nice goal and had many elements that we have worked on in training since the start of the season.

“When Mace laid the ball to me I managed to take it in my stride and send Ante Covic the wrong way – it was a great moment.

“I’ve been in that position a few times before but perhaps haven’t been calm enough and ended up putting the ball into the stands. This time I ‘passed’ it into the net so maybe I’ll stick to that technique from now on.

“I didn’t really know what I was doing afterwards – I just ran. I forgot it was an AFL pitch and was just lost in the moment.”

In the post-match wash-up the Gold Coast skipper believed his side was good value for their point after creating several quality chances and dominating possession for long periods against Victory’s star names.

With pace in their attack and the steel of Jungschlager and Salley in midfield, United pressed for the breakthrough and kept going right until the final whistle – literally.

“Both teams could argue that they had chances to win the game and deserved more than the point we both got,” said Thwaite.

“But just after half time we had a chance to take the lead and even when Melbourne scored we responded really well and it shows that we’re getting back the character that has been our hallmark since the club began.

“We never gave up and just kept going forward until eventually the pressure paid off.

“A lot of credit has to go to Miron who reacted to Melbourne’s goal with a substitution and a bit of fine-tuning to allow for the change to be effective. Taking off a defender can be risky, but the pace it injected into the attack gave us another dimension and it really lifted us.

“The one thing you want is for your substitutes to make an impact on the game, to bring something new, and I think ours did that for us.”