Mariners forward Sammy Silvera is flying high, loving life on and off the field since his return to the Central Coast this season.
First debuting for the Mariners in 2019, the winger has experienced plenty in football already during his short career, signing for Pacos de Ferreira in Portugal in 2020.
The attacker opted to return to the Coast on a three season deal under Mariners head coach Nick Montgomery in 2022 and has loved his second stint at the club so far.
“Since I came back to the Mariners it has been unreal. I have been enjoying my football again, I am happy with how everything has been going this season,” he said.
“I can’t complain about anything. I’m doing well and hopefully I can grab some more goals and assists.”
Silvera has looked at his best over the past fortnight, dominating Adelaide United in our 4-0 victory before playing a key role in our 2-1 win over Macarthur.
Fresh off that hardworking and hard-fought result, the winger was pleased to secure the three points in difficult circumstances.
“First half we dominated; we played very well. It was a game where we showed what we can do, but we need to be more consistent and show that for the entire 90 minutes,” he said.
“They came out firing and we didn’t match that, but credit to us we stayed in the fight and finished out the game and got the result. I think we did well to come out of it on top.”
Preparing for the trip to Wellington, Silvera’s confidence is high, knowing the importance of picking up three points each round as we look to put the pressure on league leaders Melbourne City.
“We’ve had a good couple of games, and I think we are going into this weekend positive and very confident in what we can do. We know we can score goals, so we are aiming to go over to New Zealand and do just that,” he said.
“I think we need to just focus on ourselves, keep getting those three points every game. We just need to keep pushing and hopefully we can get closer and closer. We are always going to be in contention with the way we are playing.”
Despite his pleasing start to the campaign the forward is not getting ahead of himself, knowing that there is still room to grow.
Silvera confident that he will be able to continue to develop his game under the watch of Montgomery and assistant coach Sergio Raimundo for years to come.
“My defensive work has always been something that I have needed to work on since I was young. Monty and Serge are always helping me improve that and it’s getting better,” he said.
“I am happy with the progress that I am making and once I combine that side with how I can go in attack, I believe that I can be a great asset for this team.”
Silvera and the Mariners come up against Wellington Phoenix this Sunday at 1pm AEDT away, before returning to Our Paradise next Saturday night against Western Sydney Wanderers.