When Tommy Oar’s injury-time free kick flew into the back of Wellington’s goal on Sunday, no one was more relieved than Luke DeVere.
The young centre opened the scoring for the visitors with a header past his own goalkeeper in the 11th minute.
Despite being just 19 years of age and in his first season of professional football, DeVere didn’t dwell on his mistake and with the support of his team-mates helped his side to a remarkable victory.
“I was running towards my own goal and thought the (Wellington) player was a bit more towards the other side so I thought I had to make a play at the ball otherwise he’s going to head it into the goal,” DeVere revealed.
“So I ended up making a play at the ball and it’s gone a bit wrong.”
“After it happened Moorey (Craig Moore) and Rocket (Liam Reddy) said ‘get your head up’.”
“That’s basically what I looked to do, just keep my head up and try and get on with the game.”
DeVere’s impressive mental strength is a great quality for the youngster as he continues to thrive in the Hyundai A-League.
“I think you have to be prepared for that, playing in that role (in the centre of defence),” he said. “Those sorts of things pop up from time to time so you have to be able to accept it and get on with it.”
“During the game if I make a mistake I just try to brush it aside and forget about it and have another look and review it after the game.”
The Young Socceroos captain can laugh about the mistake now, particularly as he was the brunt of jokes from team-mates this week at training.
“You expect that. It’s not something you’re going to get away with lightly, but that’s all right,” he said.
“It was a good finish, I would’ve liked to have done it at the other end.”
Despite the jokes, DeVere is still focused on the job at hand, with Friday night’s big clash with Melbourne Victory at Telstra Dome another big test for him and his team-mates.
“Melbourne is a pretty well-drilled side. They’ve got that aspect to them that anything can happen,” he said.
“Archie Thompson can spark things at the drop of the hat so they’re dangerous players to play against.”
Queensland has been dealt a blow heading into the match with the news that Brazilian striker Reinaldo has been ruled out for the rest of the season after succumbing to osteitis pubis.
