A triple header involving three Swan Hill soccer teams will be the highlight of the Swan Hill Soccer League this weekend.
Swan Hill’s men’s and women’s Bendigo Amateur Soccer League (BASL) teams will face off against Border Raiders FC tomorrow afternoon, with Swan Hill’s under-16 girls team to host Golden City in a curtain raiser to the two senior teams in Moama.
The men’s team will go in full of confidence following their 10-0 thrashing of La Trobe University Black last Saturday, with Swan Hill striker Conner Brown finishing a day to remember with a seven-goal haul in the rout. Tomorrow is expected to be a much tougher assignment for the men’s side however, with the Border Raiders having also dominated La Trobe University in the opening round of the season 5-0.
Much of the Swans performance will rely on midfielder Jason Stokes and captain Cooper Fox, who also scored two goals in the victory, while the return of defender Anyueer Buol to the side last weekend alongside Blaze Hamilton and Harley Lahy immediately strengthened the Swans defensive line.
The women’s side will also face Border Raiders FC prior to the men, with a much tougher assignment awaiting them against the Division 2 women’s reigning premiers. The Swans have so far gone winless through their first three games of the season but showed signs of considerable improvement in their loss to Castlemaine last Sunday, despite not registering a goal for the match.
The inclusion of Kimberly Patterson to the back four helped strengthen the Swans defensive line in the second half and her combination alongside Sarah Scott, Amity Scott and Rhyleigh Pope-Fraser will be vital to Swan Hill’s chances of keeping a clean sheet tomorrow.
The under-16 girls will also play at Moama in a home match against Golden City SC, with the young Swans chasing their second win of the season in what looms as a battle for the top four, with both Swan Hill (third) and Golden City (fourth) holding a one win, one loss record after the first two home-and-away rounds of the season.
Also in action over the weekend will be Swan Hill’s under-16 boys (Saturday) and youth boys (Sunday) teams, with both teams to play at home at the Ken Harrison Reserve across the weekend.
Both teams will be chasing their first wins of the season, with the under-16’s to host Castlemaine Gold from 11.00am on Saturday, with the youth boys to play Castlemaine Goldfields FC from 11.30am on Sunday.
