SWAN Hill pulled off a tenacious 3-2 extra time victory over Deniliquin Wanderers to win the Bendigo Amateur Soccer League’s Division 2 Super Cup premiership on Sunday.
It completed the clean sweep of the Division 2 competition for the men’s team, who won all three trophies on offer this season and did not suffer a single loss.
In what was a big weekend for the club, Swan Hill’s Under 16 Boys team also claimed the U16B Super Cup title, winning 5-4 against Golden City Eaglehawk in another extra-time thriller.
Men’s coach Tony Di Palma was full of praise for his team’s commitment and endeavour across the season.
“I’m absolutely ecstatic, I couldn’t have asked for any more from the boys, especially with the weather being what it was and the ground being so heavy – it drew a lot of energy from all our players and it showed in the end, but we still prevailed,” Di Palma said.
“This team plays with a lot of spirit and it was absolutely on show on Sunday – at the end of the day, we just had to win it, we went there wanting the trifecta and we got it – you can’t ask for any more than that.”
Swan Hill didn’t get things all their own way. however.
Despite winning four of their five matches against Deniliquin prior to Sunday, the Swans were forced to scrap out a scoreless first half.
But they broke the deadlock early in the second half when Conner Brown was brought down in the box and calmly converted the opening goal.
The Wanderers lifted their intensity and were rewarded in the 55th minute with Josh Perizzolo getting one past the outstretched arms of Swan Hill goal keeper Riley McCosh. The Wanderers then hit the lead in the 69th minute through Bruce Maunganidze.
With the match slipping from their grasp, the Swans continued to press, creating countless opportunities to equalise.
It wasn’t until the shadows of the full-time whistle that Swan Hill striker Angus Op’t Hoog was able to score that elusive goal – sending the Swan Hill bench into raptures and the game into extra-time.
“With five or ten minutes to go, that’s when I started to get a bit worried,” Di Palma said.
“We also started getting a few injuries at that point too – but ‘Gus’ (Op’t Hoog) was in the right position at the right time and he ended up scoring a great goal that evened it up.
“The boys deserved that equaliser because they really had worked themselves into the ground to keep themselves in the game.”
The scores were still deadlocked at 2-2 after the first half of extra-time.
But Swan Hill kept pressing with Conner Brown breaking through the Deniliquin defensive line to slide a ball past Wanderers goal keeper Martin Blake for the game winner.
“We started getting our belief back in the first half of extra time – as soon as that happened, we had the momentum back which was where the game changed,” Di Palma said.
“They (Deniliquin) were there for a reason – they came out to win it and you could see that with their effort throughout the whole game.
“Their main strikers were on song throughout the day, but in saying that, our defence was just brilliant – they didn’t put a foot wrong, they were prepared for the occasion and they knew that they’d be under pressure and they held it all together.
“But in my view, everyone put in 100 per cent and it was a whole team effort to get the win.”
Brown was awarded the player of the match award for his two goals, with Riley McCosh also having a major hand in the victory with a number of clutch saves at crucial moments. Cooper Fox was dominant in the midfield, while Jim De Gregorio, Michael Kadar, Anyueer Buol and Blaze Hamiliton were resolute in defence.
The Under 16 Boys team had a similar heart stopping win, eventually securing their first Super Cup title after giving up a 4-1 lead and being forced into extra-time. A hat-trick of first half goals to Cal Croskery, along with a 13th minute Faizal Amran goal to open the scoring, had the young Swans in command at half-time.
Golden City Eaglehawk had other ideas however, fighting back in the second half to equalise and send the match into extra-time. Cal Croskery then stepped to the plate, with the Swans striker scoring in the 105th minute to break the deadlock and hand victory to Swan Hill 5-4.
Not only did the men’s team go undefeated throughout a season for the first time in the club’s history, but the dual premierships was also the first time Swan Hill had won multiple premierships on the same weekend.
“With the juniors growing, the Under 16’s joining the BASL competition this year and being successful, along with the new clubrooms as well, it’s fair to say soccer is here to stay in Swan Hill,” Di Palma said.
“We’re a tight club and a tight community and we welcome our arms to anybody that wants to play – we’re a welcoming and family orientated club who want to grow and build from here.
“This is only the start, it’s onwards and upwards from here.”
