Hammond on fire with the Mariners

After a rough start to football back in Australia, Central Coast Mariners’ young gun Aydan Hammond is producing some of his best football currently in the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s. 

The 19-year-old has had a fascinating start to his career, spending the past eight years playing in Portugal with Belenenses. He moved over to the European country when he was 10 years old with his older brother and mother.

Moving back to Australia last year, the talented winger said his main takeaway from his time overseas is having the confidence to play with passion.

“Portugal is not a very wealthy country like Australia. You have boys that come from the slums, and they don’t have a ‘Plan B’, so you’ve got a lot of hard workers. It’s a different experience over there,” Hammond commented.

“It’s very professional. Always at a young age going to the games, we always spent time together. We would go by bus together to the games and I felt they took it very seriously.

“Over there I was always taught as a winger specially to make dangerous runs, take on one-on-ones. Be explosive and know when to go and when not to go.

“They really want you to be a dangerous player even if you have to take on a few players; they want you to do that. They want you to express yourself on the field.”

It wasn’t the start Hammond had hoped to get off to back in Australia, copping a fractured toe just a couple of weeks into the Mariners’ preseason. It saw the exciting teenager miss out on the first six weeks of the NPL NSW Men’s season and kickstarted a barren spell in front of goal following his return to the pitch.

However, a match-winning brace against Bulls FC Academy in round 17 got the forward back on track having now scored six in his last six matches. He noted the impact of coach Abbas Saad and the improved atmosphere at Central Coast as the season has progressed.

“It’s been rough to get in fitness wise, confidence wise but I knew this from the start. I just kept my head down, kept working hard until I got that opportunity to get some more minutes,” Hammond explained.

“He [Saad] has given us a lot of confidence and not only the confidence but as a group I feel like we’ve built that family environment.

“We’ve been playing with a bit more heart now.”

With A-League Men’s football at the Mariners in his immediate sights, Hammond has higher ambitions and is not setting limits on where he could go in the future.

Central Coast are in action against Wollongong Wolves in round 23 with a chance to break into the top places by the end of the campaign.

Feature by Timothy Gibson, on Twitter @Timg123_