SWAN Hill Soccer Club men’s team broke a 16-year drought on a rain-soaked pitch in Bendigo on Sunday.
The Swans claimed the BASL Division 2 League Cup premiership with a 2-0 victory over the Deniliquin Wanderers – the club’s first title since the Men’s 2006 Division 2 Knockout Cup win.
After starting in sunny conditions, Swan Hill was forced to win the game the hard way as the heavens opened, soaking an already waterlogged pitch and turning the game into a scrap. Despite the wet weather, the Swans dominated possession from midway through the first half, going agonisingly close a number of times with shots that clattered off the woodwork throughout the early stages of the match.
Swan Hill thought it had the lead when Angus Op’t Hoog tapped in a ball from Conner Brown, who was brought down just outside the box by Deniliquin’s goal keeper, only for Op’t Hoog to be controversially ruled offside and the goal disallowed.
It didn’t take long for Op’t Hoog to respond, however, with the Swan Hill striker putting a ball into the back of the net in the 38th minute after yet another Conner Brown shot struck the goal post.
While the Swans enjoyed a 1-0 lead at the break, their coach Tony Di Palma stressed the need for them to work harder and not take the foot off.
Try as they may, the Wanderers just couldn’t break through the Swans strong back four of Jim De Gregorio, Anyueer Buol, Michael Kadar and Blaze Hamilton, with the quartet, along with goal keeper Riley McCosh, diffusing many attacking forays from Deniliquin.
Swan Hill continued to create opportunities of its own, but just couldn’t quite deliver the knockout blow. That was until the 87th minute, when Brown got himself onto the scoresheet with a wonderfully timed free kick that found the top left corner, beating the Deniliquin goal keeper’s outstretched hand.
With just three minutes remaining in regular time, all that was left for the Swans was to celebrate the victory – and the end of 16 years of heartache.
Swan Hill manager Tony Di Palma – who coincidently led Swan Hill to their only other title back in 2006 – was not only delighted with the result, but also full of praise for the team effort.
“I’m incredibly proud of all the boys that played, not only on Sunday, but right throughout the season,” Di Palma said.
“After 16 years of waiting, we finally got there – I’m very proud of everyone at the club because it’s been a long time coming.
“The boys played really well considering the conditions were really difficult – they (Deniliquin) came to play, they came to prove a point but we prevailed in the end.
“They played as team, there were no individuals among the group and that’s what we asked for from the start of the season and from the start of Sunday’s game – they proved themselves and proved that we deserved the win, simple as that.”
While the men’s team may have brought home the club’s first piece of silverware in many years, its year doesn’t end here, with the regular season and Super Cup competitions still to be decided.
“It’s only three quarters of the way through the season and we’ve still got a couple of more games to go,” Di Palma said.
“We need to stay focused on finishing the regular season on a high and then win the Super Cup as well.”
“We know what Deniliquin will bring now, and the same goes for Shepparton and Moama-Echuca for the rest of season – we need to make a few tweaks to a couple of different areas and prepare ourselves for the finals, that needs to be the focus.”
Swan Hill won’t have to wait long to potentially add to their trophy cabinet, with the Swans finding themselves six points clear on top of the BASL Division 2 ladder ahead of their match with the Shepparton Jaguars this Sunday. With just two matches left to play in the home-and-away season, Swan Hill could sew up the regular season premiership with a draw over the Jaguars – giving them a League Premiership for the first time in the club’s history.
