SWAN Hill have fallen agonisingly short of claiming their first home win of the season, forced to settle for a two-all draw against Spring Gully United SC at the Ken Harrison Reserve on Sunday.
It was a disappointing finish to an often physical contest, with the Swans twice taking the lead before Spring Gully found equalisers, with the last goal of the match coming just 14 minutes from full-time.
Swan Hill men’s coach Tony Di Palma had mixed emotions after the match, with him proud of his team for taking it up to a quality opponent over the course of the match.
“We’re not going to find any excuses, I think with the effort we showed then maybe we should have taken away the three points, but in saying that it was good to come away with any result given the quality of their side,” Di Palma told The Guardian post-match.
“In saying that, we haven’t played Spring Gully for so long, they’re realistically a League 1 team that’s been relegated, but they’ve still played in the top tier competition for several seasons.
“So to match them, I think that’s a bit of a win for us and pretty much lets us know that we’re on track and we’re all going in the right direction.
“I can’t ask for any more than that, it was a gallant effort from everyone and win or draw, it was a game where we will take a lot of confidence from.”
Swan Hill took the lead in the 21st minute after a long range strike from midfielder Joseph Costa, who returned for his first game since his man-of-the-match performance in the Swans Super Cup grand final victory last season.
Costa’s strike gave his team the advantage despite Spring Gully creating several chances throughout the first half, with the Swans defenders holding firm in the face of relentless pressure to take a 1-0 lead into the half-time break.
That was until six minutes into the second half, when Parker Harding found the back of the net for the visitors, with the scores once again deadlocked.
Both teams continued to press hard searching for the go-ahead goal, with Swan Hill striker Conner Brown eventually breaking the deadlock in the 70th minute with a strike that bounced off the cross bar and into the net.
It appeared as though Swan Hill were destined to record their first win at home for the season until Spring Gully’s William Harding was the beneficiary of some good fortune from a corner kick, with the scores once again tied at 2-2.
And that’s how it would stay, with both clubs throwing everything at the other over the final 14 minutes in search of the match-winning goal.
Although Costa and Brown would be the Swans to get their names on the scoresheet, it was the performance of their defence that earned praise from Di Palma, with Jai Wright, Anyueer Buol, Noah Drummond and Tyler Carr, along with goal keeper Riley McCosh.
“Over our last few games and even in our pre-season games, our back four always holds its own,” Di Palma said.
“Jai Wright was huge again, and Tyler (Carr) on the other side played his role brilliantly too.
“I’m so grateful that we’ve got those guys in place, because they just put their heart and soul into the game so to speak.
“It started at the back, we worked from the back and worked ourselves forward but in saying that, the midfielders seem to be working a lot better than the previous week, too.
“We’re slowly returning to playing the brand of soccer that we played last season, everyone’s trying to get an understanding of it all, but it’s going to take us a couple of weeks.
“Over the next two or three weeks we’ll find out where we’re at again.
“Our forwards worked well together, which was the area that we were worried about last week, but everyone put in 110 percent and I couldn’t ask any more from anyone.
“We struggled in the first 15-20 minutes last week, but this week was totally different, the boys were on and they were ready to take these points, but unfortunately we came out of it with a draw.”
Unfortunately the men’s team was the only Swan Hill BASL team in action over the weekend, with both the club’s women’s and under-14 boys fixtures ending before they started, with their opponents both forfeiting.
The Swan Hill women’s team were handed a 3-0 win after Golden City forfeited their Female Football Round match, with the Swans climbing into the top six for the first time this season as result, while Swan Hill’s under-14 boys team sit second on the ladder following their forfeited game to Kyneton District.
