On the day the O and M interleague squad was humbled by Peninsula and dropped out of Victoria’s top four regional competitions, the Border’s premier league soccer club was claiming its biggest scalp with a 3-2 win over Melbourne City.

Already several of United’s players have come to the attention of A-League scouts, while under-16 goalscoring freak Lewis Greenwood has been noticed by Socceroo boss Ange Postecoglou.

Richards said any junior or senior player was just 90 minutes away from recognition.

“We’ve seen the likes of Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City are scouring the country for the best talent,” he said.

“They look at games against teams like us as a chance to discover raw talent — players they can put into their system and take onwards towards the A-League.

Richards can rightly lay claim knowledge of both camps — a premiership player in the Ovens and Murray with Lavington Panthers in 2001 and coach of their soccer equivalent that won the AWFA league title three years later.

“There is a lot more money in the O and M but I’m not sure where they stand in terms of players being able to progress to the next level,” he said.

“I do know if you want a career path to professional soccer, you want to be part of the NPL.

“People with influence watch every game.

“What we have seen in recent weeks is there are players in the under-20s and the junior club with the raw talent who have already attracted attention.

“We have also seen some of AWFA’s best come in and handle the step up in grade.

“Ryan Giles is 30 and been playing AWFA his whole career, but he has become a major factor in the midfield in NPL, so it is as much about recognition of that talent as it is the younger brigade.”