SWAN Hill men’s soccer side have played out a goal-fest against Shepparton Lushi, claiming a 7-3 victory away from home.
The men made the trip to Shepparton without first-team coach Tony Di Palma and a handful of key players.
Cooper Fox was then a late withdrawal with a hamstring injury, but the Swans got off to a dominant early start, with Conner Brown whipping a cross into Tommy Paddon to open the scoring 11 minutes in.
Brown scored from the penalty spot soon after to double the lead, but Shepparton Lushi scored twice to equalise.
Paddon responded with his second goal, before midfielder Stephen Whittaker added another, on top of his strong first-half performance, to give Swan Hill a two-goal buffer at the break.
The Swans were forced to play with 10 men after Jason Stokes was shown a red card from picking up his second yellow less than 10 minutes into the half.
But this may have spurred the side on, as Whittaker completed a hat-trick with two goals in four minutes.
Brown continued his fine goal-scoring form, adding a second to put the finishing touch on the 7-3 victory in the 84th minute.
The men’s side will travel to Bendigo this week to take on third-placed La Trobe University Red, with a win enough to move the Swans into third.
At Ken Harrison Reserve, the women’s side took on La Trobe University and fought hard while on the end of a heavy 8-0 defeat.
The women were without Emily Fox and Paige Schulz, leaving a stretched defence to battle against the strong La Trobe side.
The team’s focus was to implement a strong press and not allow La Trobe time on the ball, which they were successful at for much of the game.
But a 10-minute lapse was enough for La Trobe to put the game beyond doubt, scoring five of their eight goals in that period.
Swan Hill fought hard in the second half to create a number of their own chances and stop the flow of La Trobe attacking threats.
The women will travel to Epsom to do battle in their final game of the season.
Both of Swan Hill’s junior sides claimed wins on the road at the weekend.
The under-16 boys edged out a tight 1-0 win against top-of-the-table Castlemaine Goldfields Gold, thanks to a late goal from Sonny Tucker.
The boys were without both their first and second choice keepers and turned to stand-in Illya Hussain, who performed heroically to keep a clean sheet for his side.
Hussain and the defenders in front of him played extremely well to hold a side averaging more than six goals a game goalless.
As Castlemaine Gold continued to pile on the pressure, Tom Clarke played a long through ball to Sonny Tucker, who ran down the line and slotted it past the keeper.
Swan Hill’s under-14 girls claimed their own 1-0 victory against Kyneton Rangers in Epsom, with an early first-half goal ruled offside.
But the girls kept their heads up and continued to create opportunities, before Trinity Shelton scored the winning goal in the first half.
Kyneton piled on the pressure for all of the second half, but the girls stood tall and held on to claim their fourth win of the season.
The under-14s will take on top-of-the-table Epsom Stars at Ken Harrison Reserve on Saturday morning.
