SWAN Hill Soccer Club flexed their muscles at the weekend, with the men’s and under-16 boys teams each comfortably entrenching themselves in top half of the ladder.
The men locked horns with the Golden City Rams in North Bendigo on Sunday afternoon and, despite the absence of captain Cooper Fox, came away 7-0 winners.
Last year’s leading goal scorer Conner Brown returned for his first match this season and made an immediate impact, scoring the first of three goals in the fifth minute.
Jason Stokes then doubled Swan Hill’s lead just two minutes later, before the home side settled, keeping the scores locked at 2-0 for the remainder of the first half.
It didn’t take long for the flood gates to open however, with Brown converting from the spot three minutes into the second half.
Goals to Stephen Whittaker (58th minute), Brown (72nd), Faizal Amran (76th) and Stokes (88th) capped off a strong performance from the reigning premiers.
Coach Tony Di Palma was pleased with the effort, but was aware bigger challenges await – starting with this Sunday’s game against the Rams’ unbeaten first XI side, Golden City SC.
“It was a great performance by the boys and great reward for effort, especially with a number of our key players still to come back in,” Di Palma said.
“This Sunday’s going to be a big test for us though, perhaps the biggest we’ve faced over the past two seasons.
“The boys are ready, but we also know we’ll need to be at our best to get the result we want.”
The under-16 boys were far from overshadowed by their more senior counterparts, notching up consecutive wins with a 6-1 victory over Castlemaine Goldfields Green.
It placed the Swans on top of the ladder after two rounds.
Sonny Tucker was once again the star up front, scoring a hat-trick to bring his season tally to eight.
Bailey Johnson, Nahun Rao Nargisrahoo and Kaidyn Tants also put their names on the scoresheet, with Castlemaine’s only goal coming from a penalty to Oscar Sattler-Carson in the first half.
With the women’s team enjoying a week off with the bye, the only other BASL team in action for Swan Hill was the fledgling under-14 girls side, who succumbed to the powerful Epsom Stars 9-0.
