It’s the 93rd minute at Ironbark Fields, and Central Coast Mariners star Mikael Doka is through on goal.
Scores are level at 2-2, with Western United at risk of their first home defeat of the season.
Doka goes one-on-one with Western keeper Matt Sutton, who has emerged carefully off his line to close down the space between the Brazilian maestro and his intended target.
Doka attempts to lift his shot over Sutton, but the in-form gloveman intervenes, making his 50th save of the season – the most of any goalkeeper in the league.
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He would go on to make one more save before full-time to deny Doka an acrobatic bicycle kick winner, as Western held on to clinch a point in the entertaining 2-2 draw.
It was Sutton’s 15th game as Western’s first-choice keeper in 2024-25, in his second season at the club; having served as backup to Tom Heward-Belle last season, Sutton’s status as the club’s undisputed No.1 is one of the feel-good stories of the current campaign.
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At just 24 years of age, Sutton is a young, emerging goalkeeper who has been in the Isuzu UTE A-League since his final year of high school in 2018, when he signed for Melbourne Victory.
He never played a league fixture for Victory, and managed just three appearances across three seasons at Melbourne City – but it was third time lucky for Sutton at Western, his third Victorian Isuzu UTE A-League club.
This season, Sutton has made 51 saves in 15 games, a league-high, and also leads the competition in shots saved from inside the box (33).
Meanwhile, his save percentage facing shots from outside the box is an impressive 94.7%.
But it was close to goal where Sutton did his best work on Wednesday night, with his sprawling save to deny Doka at the death enough to clinch a hard-earned point for Western who moved above Macarthur Bulls and Melbourne City into third on the table.
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Post-game, Western United captain Ben Garuccio highlighted Sutton’s impact on the club’s fortunes in his second season in Tarneit, praising his keeper as a player proving that sometimes persistence is key to forging an Isuzu UTE A-League career.
“Sutto is another one that’s been at all three Melbourne clubs and really struggled to get a chance,” Garuccio said.
“He’s been thrown in, he played a little bit last year and did really well, but this year the boss has chucked him in and honestly, he’s been unbelievable.
“To have a keeper like that behind you, for a back four, is very reassuring.
“He’s very good with his feet; he scares us a little bit sometimes, but he hasn’t really made any mistakes this season. I think he’s going to keep improving, he’s still so young.”