Soccer: OVA goalkeeper Josh Magann discusses Golden Gloves award

But, as he revealed just days after winning the touted Golden Glove award for the best keeper in the first grade competition, one pre-season game this year inspired him to reach even greater heights.

The match in question was OVA's Australia Cup clash against the Coffs Coast Tigers, which they lost 9-2.

"They were a really good team, but we didn't play as well as we could have," Magann said.

"We just didn't turn up, and we were just off our game a bit and it got away from us pretty quickly.

"To get beaten that way in front of a big pre-season crowd was pretty disappointing, but we did have a chat about it among the senior players about how we move on from it, and the conversation was like 'Well, let's go and win first and reserve grade'."

For Magann's part, he began "training a bit more" and "sharpening a few more things in terms of positioning and agility".

The team discussion proved prophetic on Saturday, as OVA claimed 1-0 and 3-0 wins in their respective reserve grade and first grade grand finals.

And, after the latter match was complete, Magann was presented with the Golden Glove trophy, which is awarded to the keeper with the most clean sheets throughout the season.

Including the semi-final and grand final, Magann compiled seven games without letting in a goal.

More impressively, after conceding nine goals against the Tigers, Magann only let nine more through for the rest of the season.

However, he credited much of that success to the OVA defence.

"The guys that are at the back really help, especially [Brendon Fergie] and [Glenn McKnight]," Magann said.

"They're just really solid, Fergie's probably the best defender I've ever played with. And on Saturday night, Knighty made two really good blocks that meant I didn't have to save it at all.

"It's things like that, that make me look a lot better when [the opposition] are shooting from further out with no time on the ball."

Despite his insistence that the quality of the Mushies' defence made his life easier, Magann still made some spectacular saves throughout the year.

Of those, he picked two that stood out as personal favourites.

The first came during the Northern Inland Cup grand final against North Companions, when he dived full-stretch to his left and deflected the ball away from the top-left corner of the goal.

"I was pretty happy with it," Magann said.

"I remember that Knighty and Riley [Russell], two guys that I have a lot of respect for, pulled me off the ground and gave me a hug."

The second, he produced during the Mushies' semi-final against the Moore Creek Mountain Goats when he saved a penalty shot that few expected him to save.

"We would have been down one-nil [if it had gone in], but instead we won two-nil," Magann said.

"It was a huge boost for the team, because I wasn't expected to save it."

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