One can sense the happiness in Nik Brozinic's voice at the mention of his first baby girl, so too the cheek when he floats the idea of one day seeing her in a red and white jersey.
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Canberra Croatia capped off a dream weekend for their coach, who welcomed his first child on Friday night, with a 1-0 win over Belconnen United in the Capital Football women's Premier League at Deakin Stadium on Sunday.
The contest marked traditional powerhouse Belconnen's third defeat in 82 games - a remarkable stretch that has for so long seemingly rendered Blue Devils victories something of a fait accompli.
But Brittany Palombi's 15th minute strike pushes Canberra five points clear of Belconnen on the competition ladder with two rounds remaining in the regular season.
Brozinic had little time to revel in the victory, racing back to hospital to be with his wife Tania and newborn Christina soon after the final whistle was blown.
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"That's my first, my first little girl. Hopefully a future Canberra Croatia player and maybe more," Brozinic said.
"They're all happy and healthy, just spending a couple of days in hospital to make everything sure. We had her at 10pm on Friday night, so not too long ago now."
A defensive tactical masterclass saw the undefeated hosts claim the spoils in a grand final rematch, with Belconnen on the wrong end of three yellow cards.
The Blue Devils now find themselves in a logjam of teams jostling for places in the top four yet a favourable goal difference could have them in the box seat for a top two finish.
Palombi's goal was just the second Belconnen have conceded all season, posting 33 of their own in the process.
It's a tally that will keep the defending champions' rivals from getting too far ahead of themselves on the road to the finals.
"Going up against Belconnen is always a hard task, and we've been on the rough end of a few results against them over the past few years," Brozinic said.
"It was good to come out on the winning side this time. Brittany Palombi, give her an inch of space on her left foot and she will bury it.
"It's even more important to get results the way we have in a short season. We've only got nine games this year in the league.
"Any little slip up was always going to mean the task was going to become a whole lot harder. We had some games early on in the season where we hadn't quite found our feet yet.
"We just found a way to get results. The signs of a really good footballing side are that you get results in games where you don't potentially play your best football, and we have managed to do that this year."
AT A GLANCE
Capital Football Premier League Women's round seven: CANBERRA CROATIA 1 (Brittany Palombi goal) bt BELCONNEN UNITED BLUE DEVILS 0 at Deakin Stadium.
Caden Helmers
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
