![Seth Clark on the ball with Ryan Feutz ready for the pass against Newcastle Olympic. Picture Edgeworth Eagles Seth Clark on the ball with Ryan Feutz ready for the pass against Newcastle Olympic. Picture Edgeworth Eagles](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/ChN2GeGbsrYvYqhWaZEXS7/7e4bd85c-7915-4ed8-9ed9-f209fee01454.jpg/r0_200_2048_1260_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Seth Clark has already caught the eye of A-League coaches with his performances for Edgeworth this season.
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Now with his mate and fellow New Zealander Ryan Feutz striking a lethal combination with him up front, the former Kiwi under-23s international seems certain to get even more attention.
The 23-year-olds have been integral in the Eagles' resurgence in the NPL Northern NSW league, scoring 12 goals between them as Edgeworth have surged to fourth on 23 points with a seven-game winning streak.
Striker Feutz has bagged five goals in three games since joining mid-season, and also scored a hat-trick in the 4-3 Australia Cup win over Valentine - just three three days after arriving from New Zealand.
Clark, an attacking midfielder, has been with Edgeworth all season and has impressed throughout, scoring seven NPL goals and setting up several.
He came to the Eagles from San Diego State University and five years in the US college system. Before leaving for the US, Clark played five times for the New Zealand under-23s.
His goal now is to break into the A-League and he has already had talks with coaches about potential trials after his efforts with Edgeworth.
"We'll see," Clark said of the interest. "Hopefully just keep playing well and if we keep winning games, then that obviously helps as well. So I'll just focus on that for now and hopefully at the end of that there will be some rewards.
"I want to play A-League and I think it's a pretty realistic goal, but I'm just taking it step by step.
"I wanted to come here and get a feel for the competition and how it works in different leagues, and I've settled in now. I've set myself some targets so hopefully I can move to the next level, whether that A-League or B-League, but I definitely have ambitions to keep pushing while I can."
Clark has also helped the Eagles off the pitch, getting Feutz on board after Swedish striker Theodor Skarp switched to Lake Macquarie mid-season.
Feutz and Clark trained at the same Christchurch academy and became friends during a six-month stay together in Spain with the Valencia youth program in their early teens.
"I've always kept in touch with Ryan, and I knew he was interested in coming to Australia, so when a spot opened, I knew he'd be keen and he'd do well," Clark said. "I'm still waiting for my agent fee."
Feutz played a season in Sweden at age 19 but has since featured in the New Zealand national league. He tried to find an Australian club at the start of the season then played limited minutes with Eastern Suburbs at home because of niggling injuries, concussion and COVID.
Despite the troubles, Feutz hit the ground running at Edgeworth and has shown he could also attract interest from clubs at a higher level. While that's the goal, Feutz is not looking too far ahead.
"In recent times I've tried to take the pressure off myself in regards to that," Feutz said. "It's always been my primary focus, and it still is, but I'm just trying to enjoy my football and by nature obviously try to go as far as I can.
"I tried to come over to Australia at the start of the year, but there were no openings. When Seth gave me a call to say I've got a spot over here, that was great, but to have a spot with someone you know, it's worked out a treat."
Edgeworth coach Peter McGuinness has been impressed with the Kiwi pair on and off the pitch.
"Seth came here early from the US and prepared well because football is his life," McGuinness said.
"He's made an immediate impact not just with his goals, but with his all-round general play. He sets goals up, he's such a talented footballer that lives and breathes it.
"Ryan came across off the back of not much football for four or five weeks. He's scored eight goals in four games, after coming to a new country and team, so he's done really well. They are both very good footballers and good people.
"The last two years we would always create opportunities, we just didn't take enough of them.
"We haven't set the world on fire this year with goals scored [24], but since Ryan has come in and Seth's found his mark early, we've created and we've scored. And we've only conceded nine goals, so our defence is in good shape.
"It's not just [keeper] Ben Conway and the backline having a good year, I think the whole team works hard without the ball."
"And of the nine goals, three have been penalties and three have been when we've been down to 10 men."
Edgeworth travel to Inverell on Friday in preparation for Saturday's Australia Cup match against the host club. Pat Wheeler (calf) and Joe Melmeth (groin) are their only injury concerns.