THE Swan Hill men’s soccer team had to be content with sharing the points with rivals Golden City SC, with the two teams finishing 3-all at the Ken Harrison Reserve on Sunday.
While they may not have walked away with the three points, it was a result that felt like a victory for the Swans, who were two goals down within the first 10 minutes of the match.
In an often physical match, the Swans worked their way back into the contest with goals Cooper Fox (15th minute) and Liam Baldwin (23rd minute) levelling the scores to end the first half.
Swan Hill were again forced to come from behind however when Golden City’s Win Boe scored his third goal of the match in the 73rd minute, leaving the home side trailing by a goal with just 17 minutes remaining.
They wouldn’t be behind for long however as Baldwin again tied the scores one minute later, with neither team able to find the knockout blow despite their best efforts over the dying stages of the contest.
It was a result that pleased Swan Hill men’s captain Cooper Fox, especially with key players Anyueer Majur and Noah Drummond both missing from the Swans line-up.
“It was a pretty good effort considering we had two major outs in both our centre backs,” Fox told The Guardian post-match.
“I was pretty proud of the boys to come away with a point to be honest, they (Golden City) were one of our hardest opponents last year.
“It was great to walk away with a result and something to show for our hard work, especially when we went two goals down so quickly in the match.
“The boys never dropped their heads and we knew that if we played our brand, we’d get back in the game at some point, which we did.”
The Swans were forced to get the job done without striker Conner Brown for a large period of the match, with the Swans’ leading goal scorer leaving the field with an ankle injury mid-way through the first half.
Baldwin stepped up in the absence of Brown however, with his two goals keeping Swan Hill in the match, along with the performances of goal keeper Riley McCosh and defender Van Bao Nguyen.
The final score wasn’t so pleasing for Swan Hill women’s team however, with the Swans suffering a 4-1 defeat to second placed Castlemaine Goldfields Gold prior to the men’s match on Sunday.
After trailing 3-0 at half time, the Swans recovered after the break, with their first goal of the match coming from the boot of striker Trinity Shelton in the 72nd minute, reviving hopes of a late stage comeback for the home side.
That would be the last joy Swan Hill would have however, with the final goal of the match coming from Castlemaine’s Amina Ling in the final 30 seconds of the game.
It was a frustrating loss for Swan Hill off the back of their 6-0 defeat to Castlemaine’s first team seven days earlier, with women’s assistant coach Emma Pitts confident her team would bounce back and continue to improve for their return bouts later in the season.
“We’re happy with how we performed in the second half, but we just let the game get away from us before half time,” Pitts said.
“We dropped our heads for a 15 minute period after they scored their first goal and it’s that period in the game which has ultimately cost us.
“If we had of been able to get to the break at 1-0 instead of 3-0, which we probably should have, then it might have been a different game.
“We have these lapses in games against the better teams which we just need to work out of our game, we’ve shown that we are competitive for large periods in general play and can even trouble them on the counter attack with our speed, we just need to avoid giving them the momentum early in games.”
It was a much better weekend for Swan Hill’s under 14 and under 16 boys teams, with both sides registering resounding wins, with the former defeating Castlemaine Goldfields Green 4-2 and the latter beating Spring Gully White 8-0.
Oliver Miliado scored a hat-trick for the under 16s side, while Conor Mcgovern, James Mcgovern, Zeke Simmons and Rylan Muir Howie all scored for the under 14s team, with both sides now sitting on top of their respective ladders.
