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Andrew Redmayne has experienced the highs and lows of goalkeeping in the Hyundai A-League. Now at his third club, Redmayne is determined to make the most of the opportunity presented to him by Heart coach John Aloisi.
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| Credit: Melbourne Heart |
But it was the same scenario for the young goalkeeper, as he made only three appearances as second string behind former Melbourne Victory goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos.
In January 2012 Redmayne was snapped up by Melbourne Heart in light of Clint Bolton's uncertainty over his future. The signing was a longer-term strategy by John van't Schip to ensure Heart was well stocked for life after Bolton. This season the player has never lost hope and was delighted when presented with his first start against the Newcastle Jets in Round 14.
"I love being in a team environment. Every day is a trial so you've got to go out and train for a contract, or train to keep a contract.
"I just wanted to stay in the sport and around a team environment and that's what kept me motivated."
The 24-year-old has always had the potential to be one of the better goalkeepers in Australia. He was a regular in the Australian youth set up, where he played 25 games for the Olyroos before being knocked off top spot for not having enough first team experience. He was replaced by Mat Ryan, who also took over first team duties for the Mariners after Vukovic left to join Perth Glory.
Now having consistent first team exposure, there is no doubt Redmayne has his eye on the top goalkeeping spot for the Socceroos, and having Clint Bolton as a mentor in his development at Melbourne Heart has been priceless.
"Clint Bolton has been huge for me from the very first session I had at Heart. I remember training in the fields and straight away he was talking and encouraging me, little things I could work on, little things I could tweak, and it's been really good."
"My performances haven't been too bad, but there's always things to work on. It was great to get my first clean sheet [against Adelaide] but I'll keep working hard at training.
"We had goals at the start of the year. I've had to review mine now that I'm actually playing, but it's really good that we're getting a few wins on the board."
And working hard is what he must do if Heart are to make an appearance in the 2012/2013 Finals Series. He was given first team duties after Heart's 3-2 loss to Wellington despite having a 2-0 lead early in the game.
The selection may have come as a shock, as fans had grown accustom to seeing Bolton as first choice in the team. However after only five games for the club thus far he has shown fans exactly why he should stay on as Heart's number one.
With a clean sheet against Adelaide, his wonderful efforts to help Heart hold on to a 3-2 lead against Brisbane and his performance in the 1-0 loss to Western Sydney are the most notable of his exhibitions. In all three games he received great praise and was seen as a shining light in what were some of Heart's lesser performances.
"There's no reason in particular why we're conceding late in the game. There's little things we'd like to keep doing throughout the 90 minutes however we did keep a clean sheet against a good team coming second, so that will give us a lot of confidence going into the next few weeks."
Redmayne's character will be tested in upcoming weeks and he knows the remaining games of the season will determine whether he continues to keep Bolton off the park. That starts with the final Melbourne Derby of the regular season this weekend.
"It's pretty big, the whole city gets involved. We've got a good record but we won't take it lightly, it's a big game and we'd like to get the three points."
It will be his first Melbourne Derby and Redmayne knows despite Heart's previous good record against the Victory, the game is crucial for their season with only nine games to go.
As for Redmayne himself, he will take each game as it comes. First choice ahead of well experienced Bolton for the time being, and quickly making himself a favourite amongst the Heart faithful too - one cleansheet at a time.