Cam Philpot elevates his game in 2021

Fraser Park’s star striker Cam Philpot has taken his game to a new level in the 2021 NPL 4 NSW Men’s season, netting fifteen goals in sixteen games to find himself with a healthy lead in the golden boot race.

Philpot has been the shining star for an impressive Fraser Park outfit that currently sit second on the Premiership ladder.

The New-Zealander, like many of his peers, was gutted to hear about the suspension of Football activities in NSW, Philpot was enjoying a purple-patch of form leaving him five goals clear in the golden boot race.

Not a bad stat for a player that had a limited pre-season due to injury.

“I had an injury in the off-season that put me out for about two months, so I was working hard in the gym trying to get back into shape for the season. Luckily I had a month or so to get up and running before the season started.

“I didn’t expect to come out scoring like I did and our team came out firing winning nine of our first eleven matches.

“I got off to a good start this year and the momentum carried through and luckily I’ve been consistent with my scoring as the games rolled by.”

Fraser Park coach Alex Araujo noted Philpot’s growth in expressing his creativity, whilst crediting his supporting cast of teammates.

“It comes down to him getting used to the system and also having a little bit more freedom to express himself.

“I think we’ve improved the team, having strong individuals around him and that obviously is going to help everyone, but he’s been a great player for Fraser even before I was there, he’s a very talented player that could be playing at a much higher level.

“At the start of the season we set the target to get ten goals and ten assists and he reached that by the halfway point, so we reset the target to at least twenty goals by the end of the season”, he said.

Both coach and player admitted Philpot’s link up play with fellow star Shu Torihaya has been a massive part of their attack this season.

“I’m lucky enough to have great teammates at Fraser, in-particular I love linking up with Shu Torihaya, we’ve built a great chemistry over the past couple years and I really enjoy playing with him,” said the Kiwi star striker.

“Shu sits in-front of him and sometimes I move Shu to the left and it’s interesting that Cam will tend to try and receive the ball closer to him on his side,” said coach Araujo.

“You can tell there’s a preference there. Shu’s a very technically gifted player and that’s always going to bring a player like Cam into the game and they work really well together”.

Philpot shared a feeling of devastation when the announcement of the season being suspended was made, but stated his side were ready to go when that green light is pressed to continue on with the year.

“ I was extremely gutted when they told us the season was being postponed.

“Obviously I was enjoying every minute of it, but now I’m keen to get back out there and finish off strong.

“We’ve got a great team with a bunch of great individuals and team spirit, if we can get some momentum heading into the end of the season I think we can do really well”, he said

With two hat-tricks under his belt already, Philpot is sure to continue his rampant ways in-front of goal upon the resumption of play and with a target of twenty goals for the season in-front of him, Philpot will be eager to run away with the golden boot.

By NPL 4 NSW Men’s Reporter, Dominic Criniti (@DominicCriniti)