THE Swan Hill men’s and women’s soccer teams completed a perfect weekend for the club’s senior sides, with both teams recording strong wins on the road.
The men’s team continued their unbeaten start to the season, recording a 4-1 win over Golden City, while Swan Hill’s women’s team recorded back to back victories for the first time since 2018 with a 2-0 win over La Trobe University SC.
The three goal victory by the men’s team saw them move seven points clear on top of the ladder at the half-way point of the season, with the Swans now in the box seat to claim their second Bendigo Amateur Soccer League championship in three seasons.
It was a result that pleased Swan Hill coach Tony Di Palma, with the long time manager satisfied with the way his team attacked from the opening whistle.
“Our boys did well, I was a little bit worried going into the match because we hadn’t played for a while, so the focus was really on making sure we started well and started playing as a team again,” Di Palma said.
“They all combined in play within the first 15 minutes and I felt we controlled the game from very early on, Conner (Brown), Gareth (Johansen) and Steve (Whittaker) were fantastic up the front and our midfield really stood up as well.
“I couldn’t ask for any more, it was a team effort, it wasn’t down to one or two players, it was a strong performance from everyone,
“But in saying that, we did get a bit complacent after half time and they managed to score, but we also come out with some casualties in the second half which may have had a bearing on that also.”
Those players to go down included defender Blaze Hamilton with a knee injury, while midfielder/forward Whittaker looks set to miss an extended period after injuring his calf.
Youth players Jacob Thompson and Cal Croskery came off the bench to fill the voids left by Hamilton and Whittaker and impressed with strong performances.
Brown again led the way, netting two goals for the match to continue as the BASL division 2 leading scorer with 14 goals for the season, with Johansen and Whittaker also finding the back of the net.
The women’s side continued the positive results from Swan Hill’s senior teams with their 2-0 win over La Trobe University SC giving them their second win of the season in as many weeks.
The win caps off a remarkable turnaround for the women’s side, who suffered a 7-0 defeat to La Trobe in the opening round of the season.
Swans captain Sarah Scott was upbeat with her team’s performances over the past fortnight.
“To have a nine goal turnaround and go from a 7-0 loss to a 2-0 win in the space of two months just shows how far we’ve come as a team I feel,” Scott said.
“We played as a team and everyone just played their role and worked together.
“It’s great to score and to win, but I think the most pleasing thing is that we kept a clean sheet for the second week in a row. It’s been a long time since we’ve done that and it’s just further evidence that we are improving each week.
“It’s great for the girls to get reward for effort, to have the work that we’ve been doing at training each week start to get validated with results – it’s a nice feeling.”
Malyna Tants opened the scoring for the Swans with a 14th minute strike beating the La Trobe goalkeeper, before striker Kayla Chrisp doubled the Swans advantage 15 minutes into the second half with her first goal for the club.
The news wasn’t so good for Swan Hill’s under-16 boys and girls teams, with both sides suffering losses on the road to FC Eaglehawk and Golden City SC respectively.
Swan Hill’s boys team fell 3-0 in a competitive albeit unsuccessful match against Eaglehawk at Truscott Reserve, leaving the team set to continue to chase their first win of the season this Saturday when they face Castlemaine Gold at Castlemaine.
The weekend wasn’t much better for Swan Hill’s under-16 girls team, who were unable to match their 3-all draw against Golden City from earlier in the season, going down to the Rams 4-0 at Shadforth Park.
The loss sees the under-16 girls fall to fourth on the ladder, yet remain six points clear of fifth placed Spring Gully ahead of their must-win match against Kyneton District SC this Sunday.
