FOUR was the magical number for the Swan Hill Soccer League on the weekend, with three wins and a draw seeing all four Bendigo Amateur Soccer League teams securing points.
It was the first time every BASL representative team had scored points on the same weekend in the history of the club, with both the men’s and women’s senior teams scoring four goals in each in their wins over Border Raiders FC and Spring Gully United respectively.
Swan Hill’s men’s team secured their first win of the home-and-away season when they defeated Border Raiders 4-1 at Moama.
Conner Brown opened the scoring for the Swans in the 36th minute, before scoring his second 17 minutes into the second half and a minute after the home team’s opening goal to snuff out any hope of a Border Raiders comeback.
Tom Paddon (48th minute) and Cooper Fox (77th minute) also found the back of the net for Swan Hill, with men’s coach Tony Di Palma full of praise for his squad post-match.
“Considering we had a few players out with a few injuries and availabilities, I couldn’t have asked for any more from all 13 boys, including our subs, I asked them to put in 110 percent and that’s what they did,” Di Palma said.
“The heat was a bit of a killer and that took its toll on both teams, but our performance was of a high standard and it’s good to see us progressing.
“We knew it was going to take a bit of time for the group to gel over the first couple of weeks, from the pre-season and the league cups, but for them to see that we’re going to be competitive and there’s going to be wins and losses and draws, I think that’s a positive for the new guys.
“They’re starting to feel more comfortable in their roles and they’ve blended into the team, which is all we wanted.
“It’s only round three and we have a heap of football ahead of us, but the boys are learning as we go.”
Fox and Brown were both among the Swans better players, with the pair taking control of the midfield battle against the Border Raiders.
The other positive was his team’s ability to make the most of their set pieces, with their work at training paying dividends, according to the veteran coach.
“We were working on preparing some set plays and our corners and free kicks on Tuesday and Thursday night and it actually worked out for us quite well,” Di Palma said.
“There were a couple of goals that didn’t come directly from free kicks, but it went into our game play and it provided a goal for us.
“Cooper (Fox) led from the front with Connor (Brown) taking control of that centre and passing it through, which was a massive plus for us, because we haven’t had that in the last couple of weeks.
“Aarti (Nahun Rao Nargisrahoo) was good, Marcus (Orlando) was good, Riley (McCosh) and Anyueer (Majur) all played well and I honestly couldn’t pick a best player.
“They all played their roles, but the main game was played from the midfield with our through balls.
“We kind of minimised our long ball structure, because in recent weeks it hasn’t quite worked as effectively as we’d have liked, so we kept it on the ground a little bit more this week.”
Swan Hill’s women’s team also returned home with the three points after they defeated Spring Gully United 4-0 in Bendigo on the weekend.
The win sees the Swans climb to fifth on the BASL Division 2 ladder with a three win, two loss start to the season, with striker Trinity Shelton scoring all four goals in an impressive display from the young forward.
Swan Hill controlled the match from start to finish, with Shelton scoring her first goal in the fourth minute of the game, before completing her hat-trick in the first half to give the Swans a 3-0 lead at the main break.
Shelton then added a fourth 11 minutes into the second half, with the Swans closing out the game by also keeping their second clean sheet for the season.
While Swan Hill’s back four have been the dominant force in recent weeks, much like the men’s team it was their midfield that did the damage against Spring Gully United, with Heidi Annand, Zyma Aslam, Annabelle Fleming, Judaya Majur and Monique Pugliese, the latter making her senior women’s debut, who were among their teams better players.
The women’s match followed Swan Hill’s under-14 boys match, also against Spring Gully United, with the Swans coming from two goals behind at half-time to record a 6-5 win on the road.
James Mcgovern scored a hat-trick for Swan Hill, with Konnah Green, Julian Pugliese and Conor Mcgovern also finding the back of the net in the second half as the Swans recorded their third win of the season to remain in second place on the ladder.
Swan Hill’s under-16 boys put up a great fight against ladder leaders Epsom FC, with the Swans walking away with a one-all draw on Saturday.
Both goals came in the second half of the match, with Oliver Miliado the lone goal scorer for the Swans, who will host Spring Gully White this Saturday at the Ken Harrison Reserve.
