James Nieuwenhuizen primes his gloves.
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Melbourne City FC
Shepparton’s James Nieuwenhuizen has made a flying start to his A-League career - conceding just once in his first two Melbourne City top flight outings.
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The 22-year-old, who previously represented Shepparton SC and GV Suns, is the pride of the Goulburn Valley following his breakthrough at AAMI Park in recent weeks.
Having previously made his professional bow for City during an Australian Cup tie against Perth Glory back in 2024, the stopper has waited patiently for his opportunity to impress in the No. 1 role.
However, his commitment was rewarded on April 4 as he was given the nod by head coach Aurelio Vidmar to start in front of a home crowd against Western Sydney.
Donning his gloves for the first time in City colours, the Shepparton talent took his chance with both hands too - keeping a clean sheet in what was a comprehensive 3-0 victory in Melbourne.
It appears that Nieuwenhuizen’s performance caught the eye of boss Vidmar too as he kept his starting berth for the Citizens’ next outing against the Central Coast Mariners.
This time, the clash with the visitors from NSW proved a more testing encounter as the hosts edged a 2-1 win - with Nieuwenhuizen finally having conceded in the 94th minute of the tie.
The Shepp goalkeeper was deputising for regular first-choice ‘keeper Patrick Beach, with the Australian international having been ruled out after picking up a knock while on Socceroos duty last month.
The once-capped star was found to have suffered a slight quad strain, with his condition having been monitored throughout last week upon his return to Melbourne.
Speaking previously to the The News, Nieuwenhuizen opened up on his own journey back to fitness after a long rehabilitation period following an ACL knee injury back in March.
James Nieuwenhuizen made his A-League debut for Melbourne City recently.
“I think going through my ACL [injury] was a new perspective that you can’t take anything for granted,” he said.
“So I think taking that mindset into everything - nothing is promised tomorrow - means I’ve got to give everything to get where I want to be.
“Being around [Patrick] Beechy every day - who has been huge in the success we’ve had over the past couple of years - is an opportunity to help him be the best he can be, while making sure that, if opportunities do arrive, that I’m ready to take them.“
Having returned to action in January after 10 months on the sidelines, Nieuwenhuizen has now come full-circle in his comeback.
Following the recent win over the Mariners, City manager Vidmar admitted he was disappointed to see his side concede during second half stoppage time.
“They were always a threat, though, as the game went deeper into that second half, we made some changes and got spread a little bit,” he said.
“Defensively, I thought we were excellent for the majority - it would have been nice not to have conceded that goal late in the game.
However, the Citizens coach did issue a motivational message to his charges for the run-in to the regular season, with only three games remaining.
With the Melburnians currently occupying the sixth and final playoff spot in the A-League standings, their own destiny remains in their hands during this business end to the campaign.
“We spoke about knowing what we need to do, you don’t need to be Einstein to know what our situation is.
“Our focus is on one match, one performance, getting the job done - we did that a couple of days ago, again tonight and we’ll look to do the same on Sunday up against another difficult team.”
As Vidmar alluded to, City’s next outing on April 12 will see them face off against Wellington Phoenix, who held them to a 2-2 stalemate last time the two teams met back in January.
It remains to be seen if Nieuwenhuizen will retain his place for the clash following two strong showings in his inaugural couple of A-League matches.
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