SWAN Hill Soccer League’s under-16 boys team will be looking to bring home the club’s first piece of silverware this year, when they play in the Bendigo Amateur Soccer League Knockout Cup grand final on Saturday afternoon.
The Swans will face Castlemaine Goldfields Gold, after they defeated Border Raiders FC 2-1 in the semi-final at the Ken Harrison Reserve last weekend.
It leaves Swan Hill just one win away from claiming the club’s second junior title in just their second season, having entered an under-16 boys side in the BASL at the start of last year.
It won’t be the first time Swan Hill and Castlemaine Goldfields Gold have met this season, with their earlier match ending 1-0 to Castlemaine.
Castlemaine have since maintained their unbeaten record this season, ensuring Swan Hill will be underdogs when they travel to Saturday’s 1pm game.
However, Swan Hill under-16 boys coach Rob Johnson was confident his team were up to the challenge of beating the undefeated, planning to fight fire with fire.
“We were working on a few things on Tuesday night, just with how (Castlemaine) play their game and what can we do to nullify their game,” Johnson said.
“One of the areas we need to be strong is in attacking the ball and if there are moments of doubt, the boys just need to get it going in our direction and force it into positive areas.
“They play a really strong attacking game and the best defence is in offence, so we’ll aim for that this weekend because while I think their offence is quite strong, their defence isn’t as strong and we can use that to our advantage.
“We were undefeated for a long time and going through that process and having played in the earlier knockout games I think will hold us in good stead.
“It’s been pretty exciting to go through this tournament undefeated so far and now we just have to play at our best against Castlemaine.”
Win or lose, the season will continue, with the second phase of the home-and-away season to resume next week in the run towards finals.
While much of the side’s improvement had come from an improved skill level, also significant was a combination of hard work and dedication to training.
“A few of the boys were really keen to continue their training when the season stopped last year,” Johnson said.
“They continued to train through October, November, December, just working on skills, and then started again in January not long after Christmas and that helped them develop further.
“We’ve got a couple of boys who joined us just for the fun of it and that has really helped us lift the standard of what we’re doing, because with greater numbers we can have some really competitive training against each other, regardless of whether they are wanting to improve or just have some fun.”
Also in action this weekend, the Swan Hill men’s side was set for a season-defining game when they play second-placed Golden City SC in Bendigo on Sunday.
Currently fourth and five points behind Golden City, the Swans will be hoping to continue the form showed last weekend against Golden City’s sister team the Rams, who Swan Hill thrashed 11-0 at home.
With a number of their starting 11 currently out injured, Swan Hill’s Cooper Fox and Conner Brown stood tall last Sunday, with the pair netting four goals each in the rout.
While the Swan Hill women’s team will enjoy the bye this weekend, the under-14 girls side will be in action on Saturday morning when they host Spring Gully Red at the Ken Harrison Reserve, with kick-off from 11.30am.
