Noah Botic enjoyed a breakout season for Western United in the Isuzu UTE A-League Men and will be in the running to win the Young Footballer of the Year honour at the post-season Dolan Warren Awards.
This is after the United attacker was confirmed as the March nominee for the award, effectively naming him as the best-performing young player in the league over that month.
Western United played three matches in March, with Botic scoring decisive goals in two of them to secure 2-1 victories against Perth Glory and Melbourne Victory.
The first was probably the best of his six strikes across the campaign, a brilliant finish against Perth Glory at Mars Stadium in Ballarat.
With the match tied at 1-1 after Tongo Doumbia’s equaliser, Botic took his chance expertly with a mixture of intelligent positioning, classy control and a deadly finish.
After Alessandro Diamanti played Lachie Wales in behind, Botic remained lurking at the back post and after chesting Wales’ cross up into the air, the No.38 thumped a fierce volley into the back of the net.
A week later, Botic was once again perfectly positioned at the back post to score against Melbourne Victory for the first time.
The goal came similarly towards the end of the first half of that match, but this time it was to open the scoring and put United in front in a tense derby match against its rivals.
Watching United build-up superbly down the left wing, Botic remained poised to strike as Connor Pain picked him out with a ball across the box.
Botic couldn’t miss from virtually on the goal line, tapping into an empty net for what was a fourth goal in three matches at the time.
That set the tone for Botic’s explosive campaign, one that saw him earn Western United’s Isuzu UTE A-League Young Player of the Season and Golden Boot awards while also returning to the international fold with the Olyroos.
Having signed a contract extension during the season, Botic will look to carry on this momentum and continue his strong development into next season and beyond.
