Welcome to Wonderkid Watch: A weekly piece that keeps you up to date with the players and stories emerging from A-Leagues clubs playing at NPL level in Australia.
CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR TICKETS TO THE ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE
CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE NINJA A-LEAGUE FINALS HUB
*There was no football in NPLM WA last week, while Sydney FC’s academy side were not in action.
Teenage sensation triggers incredible comeback
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Late heroics don’t come much better than this from Melbourne City’s Beckham Baker.
Teenage sensation Baker was the hero in a wild 4-2 win away to Kingston City in VP1 on Monday night, scoring an extraordinary hat-trick to ensure the league leaders stayed undefeated through 12 rounds in Victoria’s second tier.
Alessandro Diamanti’s City trailed 2-1 heading into the 83rd minute before their 16-year-old playmaker took over at the Grange Reserve, where Emin Durakovic was also on the scoresheet.
NEXT GEN: Aussie teen viewed as ‘complete midfielder’ has ‘huge goal’ after overseas trials
Named after England and Manchester United legend David Beckham, Baker equalised with seven minutes of regulation time remaining before Peter Antoniou was sent off.
Then, the young gun – who only made his debut for City’s senior academy side this season – put the visitors ahead in the 93rd minute before completing his memorable hat-trick a minute later.
Baker – who previously travelled to England at the age of eight, training and playing with Manchester United U10s, Manchester City U10s and Chelsea U10 before joining the academy team of LaLiga outfit Villarreal a couple of years ago – has now scored five goals in his debut season with the senior academy team.
2024-25 ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE FINALS SERIES: What you need to know with fixtures locked in
“Beckham has a strong technical foundation on both sides of his body making him very effective as both an attacking midfielder and winger in the first half of the season,” City’s senior academy manager Simon Zappia told aleagues.com.au of the prospect who has amassed nearly 100,00 Instagram followers.
“He has worked tremendously hard on his physical qualities since returning to the club in 2024 which has allowed him to make a seamless transition into senior football.
“With the work ethic he shows on and off the pitch we look forward to seeing him continue to flourish in our environment.”
City are now five points clear atop the summit, while A-Leagues rivals Western United are fifth, nine points off the pace.
Western United lost ground after their 3-2 defeat to Langwarrin on Saturday night.
James York and Jake Najdovski – who has scored a joint VPL1-high eight goals – were on target for Western, who led 2-0 at half-time before conceding three goals in the final three minutes of normal time.
WONDERKID WATCH: ‘Special’ 16-year-old prodigy explodes as Victory stunner goes viral
BIG INTERVIEW: Aussie wonderkid reveals ‘one club I want to play for’ after busting Google myth
At Under-23 level, Western United continue to lead the way.
The Green and Black are unbeaten and top of the table following their 3-1 triumph at Langwarrin.
Western ran out winners thanks to goals from leading scorer Alex Marmura, Abdurahman Omer and Yannick Kengni.
City are six points behind in second position following their 5-0 rout of Kingston City on Monday night.
Two goals apiece from Aaron Cartwright and Julian Recchia – who has nine goals in 12 games -ignited City, while Luke Becvinovski was also on the scoresheet.
Cartwright has now scored seven goals in seven appearances this season.
Cartwright had represented the Subway Joeys before getting called up to New Zealand for the OFC U-16 Men’s Championship in Tahiti. He won the Golden Ball for Player of the Tournament, helping New Zealand qualify for the U17 World Cup later this year.
“Aaron has a unique ability to carry the ball and glide past defenders which makes him very exciting to watch,” Zappia told aleagues.com.au.
“It was nice to see him get the reward for the hard work he has put into developing his end product with two goals last night.”
CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR TICKETS TO THE ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE
In NPLM VIC, Melbourne Victory narrowly went down 3-2 to Hume City at the Home of the Matildas on Monday night.
Jing Reec and Luka Kolic scored for Victory, who led inside seven minutes before sixth-placed Hume – coached by former Newcastle Jets assistant Ric Marchioli – rallied.
Victory are ninth in the standings and eight points adrift of the top six.
Bulls young guns flourishing in Campbelltown
Zane Helweh and Lachlan Sattout. Remember the names.
The Bulls FC Academy duo are scoring goals and starring within Macarthur’s academy setup this season.
Helweh was at the double over the weekend, scoring twice to lead Bulls FC Academy past Rydalmere Lions FC in Football NSW League One on Saturday.
The youngster has four goals in his last three matches at first-grade level while he has 10 so far in 2025 – second only to Northern Tigers’ Kai Denton (14) in the race for the Golden Boot.
CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR TICKETS TO THE ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE
“Zane was in the bigger selection for the AFC Asian Cup U20s team. He was there when they (Young Socceroos) did the internal game,” Bulls FC Academy head coach and former Germany international Nicolai Muller told aleagues.com.au recently.
“He needs to work on his consistency. He needs to score goals and be one of the best players in the team.”
ACADEMY DIVE: Germany international’s vision for youth football amid global ‘trend’ in A-Leagues
Helweh – a very technical player with fast feet – has already been exposed to the Isuzu UTE A-League environment at Macarthur, where the highly-rated youngster has trained with Mile Sterjovski’s team a number of times.
Macarthur Bulls CEO Sam Krslovic told aleagues.com.au: “He is getting more consistent with goalscoring.
“The more consistency he has with that, the better for him and for club.”
Krslovic added: “He realistically could be part of the first team squad in the near future. Very, very high opinion of Zane. Just needs to keep doing what he’s doing.”
The Bulls are third and six points off the pace after 13 games. Newcastle Jets, meanwhile, are eighth following back-to-back defeats after going down 2-1 to high-flying SD Raiders. Oliver Cockle scored for the Jets.
As for the U20 side, Sattout is fuelling their table-topping exploits in 2025.
Sattout bagged a hat-trick in the 5-0 rout of Rydalmere, while Ali El-Sabeh scored twice.
It was a breath-taking treble from Sattout, who scored three goals in just 11 minutes.
NEW ERA: Newcastle Jets appoint Mark Milligan
Sattout is the leading scorer in League One’s U20 competition with 12 goals in nine matches, which includes a sublime chip earlier this season. He has eight across his past four outings.
“Lachlan Sattout was out for a whole year with an ACL injury last season with the Sharks and didn’t play a game,” Macarthur’s head of senior academy player development Shaf Sagol. “But we believed in him and signed him.
“He is very mature and dedicated. Has great work ethic and character in the dressing room.
“He is technically gifted and sharp in tight areas finding solutions and composed in finishing. He has great ability to find space and timing of runs to hurt the opposition back line.”
The Jets, meanwhile, edged SD Raiders 2-0 courtesy of William Eick‘s quick-fire double.
CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR TICKETS TO THE ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE
In NPLM NSW, Western Sydney Wanderers and Central Coast Mariners both lost.
The Wanderers were beaten 4-0 by Blacktown city, while the Mariners went down 3-2 away to St George City.
Harper Ryles and Ayouk Mow were both on target for Central Coast.
In the U20s, league-leading Western Sydney Wanderers were upstaged 3-1 by Blacktown City. Akol Akon scored for the Wanderers, who are two points clear atop the table.
As for Central Coast, they defeated St George City 2-0 through Harrison Jablonski and an own goal.
Sydney FC did not play over the weekend.
In NPLW NSW, Bulls FC Academy were victorious against Manly United 1-0.
Reigning Golden Boot winner Amber Luchtmeijer made her return to the club after playing for Sydney FC in the Ninja A-League and the young star marked the occasion with the game-winning assist for Petria Phillips as the Bulls snapped Manly’s unbeaten start to the season.
Elsewhere, Western Sydney Wanderers were edged out 1-0 by Sydney University while Newcastle Jets’ clash with Sydney Olympic was washed out.
Roar stay hot in Brisbane
Another week, another win for in-form Brisbane Roar in NPLM QLD.
After celebrating their first win of the season in the previous round, Karl Dodd’s side continued where they left off on Saturday night with 3-0 win away to Ste George Willawong.
The Roar reigned supreme thanks to Alexander Fiechtner‘s double, while Andrew Pengelly also struck.
INTERVIEW: World No. 203’s ex-‘CEO’ is shaping Brisbane’s next gen amid ‘hardest thing I’ve ever done’
In NPLM SA, Adelaide United went down 2-1 to Campbelltown City.
Ryan White‘s first-half goal had the Reds ahead at the break before 10-man Campbelltown rallied to take all three points.
Adelaide’s reserve team were also beaten 2-0 by Campbelltown.
In New Zealand, Wellington Phoenix’s men’s reserves lost for the first team this season, going down 3-0 away to Wellington Olympic in the Central League.
The U18 men’s side were 1-0 winners via Samuel Law as the U16s triumphed 3-1 thanks to Grayson Lunman‘s brace and a Marley Hunt goal.
As for the Phoenix women, their reserve side maintained their winning record by downing Onslow/North Wellington 3-1. Sienna Candy, Grace Bartlett and Lily Brazendale were on the scoresheet.
The U18s were 2-0 victors against Palmerston North Marist in the Central League as Katie Pugh scored twice.
