IT was a weekend of mixed emotions for the Swan Hill Soccer League, with their two junior teams registering big wins from the opening games of their Bendigo Amateur Soccer League seasons.
But while the news was all positive for the club’s under-14 boys and under-16 boys sides, the same couldn’t be said for their senior teams, who both fell to two goal defeats.
It was a debut beyond anybody’s wildest dreams for Swan Hill’s newest team, with the young Swans defeating Epsom FC 10-0.
Connor Mcgovern finished with a hat-trick for the Swans, with Elijah Swartz contributing two goals in the what was dubbed a “very successful day” by Swan Hill Soccer League president Ben Muir-Howie.
“I think what the scoreline doesn’t show is the detail on the pitch, there was some great passage of play with our passing and our movement was really good at times,” Muir-Howie told The Guardian this week.
“We have a big squad in the under-14’s with mixed ages and ability among the kids, but I thought as a whole, the team played pretty well together.
“Bare in mind, it was our first game of the season as well and the passing, the movement, it was all very positive.
“It’s a whole new team with two new coaches to the club in Nathan (Lain) and Jye (Roberts) and part of the strategy this year is player participation.
“We had a squad of 19 players on Saturday and everyone was able to get a run and yet we were still able to maintain our intensity and score goals at the same time.”
Also among the goalkickers for the under-14 boys team was Konnah Green, Julian Pugliese, Lysander Martin, Trevor Hartwig and James Mcgovern, giving Swan Hill seven individual goal scorers in their opening match.
It was a similar story for the Swans under-16 boys team, who defeated Golden City SC 5-1 in their opening match of the 2025 season.
Having won just two games last season, the under-16 boys side showed a significant level of improvement in the win, with the Swans adding three second half goals after holding a 2-1 lead at half-time.
Kaidyn Tants and Oliver Miliado finished with two goals each in the victory, with Tom Kennedy also scoring for the Swans.
Swan Hill’s men’s team weren’t able to replicate the form of their junior counterparts however, with the Swans suffering a 5-3 loss to Strathfieldsaye Colts United.
After defeating Strathfieldsaye two weeks ago in their League Cup fixture, Swan Hill were unable to replicate their performance, with Colts taking an early lead through Reece Yarwood in the fourth minute.
Swan Hill were able to score twice in the first half, once through the boot of Liam Baldwin and the second coming courtesy of an own goal.
Despite the two scores, the Swans still trailed 3-2 at half-time, with Strathfieldsaye extending that advantage to 5-2 until a through ball from captain Cooper Fox found its way into the path of striker Conner Brown, who scored his first goal of the game in the 88th minute.
It was a similar story for Swan Hill’s women’s team, who suffered a 2-0 loss at home to Kyneton District Maroon.
After conceding two first half goals, players rallied after half-time with a much-improved performance, according to assistant coach Emma Pitts.
“The first half was pretty disappointing, we just weren’t where we needed to be from a competitive point of view and to be honest, we’re a long way off our best,” Pitts said.
“It wasn’t that we weren’t having a go, they (Kyneton) should have been a lot further in front and would have been if it wasn’t for the efforts of our backline, but we just needed to work a bit harder and smarter in the way we attacked the contest.
“We made some corrections at half-time and to the girls credit they played a lot closer to our best.
“We know if we bring that level of effort and intensity we are a good team and we’ll be hard to beat, but we just have to bring it for the full 90 minutes and not only for a half.”
