IT was a weekend of close, but not quite close enough for the Swan Hill Soccer League’s senior teams, with both the men’s and women’s teams suffering close defeats.
Swan Hill’s men’s team played a physical game in their top of the table clash against Spring Gully United, with the Swans succumbing 2-0, while the women’s team went within inches of walking away with a point in their home game against Kyneton District Blue on Sunday.
After trailing 1-0 at half time, Swan Hill’s women’s team managed to work their way back into the match early in the second half but were unable to find the match levelling goal, with Kyneton doubling their advantage in the 66th minute.
The Swans refused to concede however and were rewarded for their endeavour in the 80th minute when midfielder Charley Baskin scored from point blank range, with the margin again reduced to a solitary goal.
The final 10 minutes saw Swan Hill press hard for the match-tying goal and create several scoring opportunities, the best of which sailed wide of the post by a matter of inches off the boot of Abbey Houlihan.
It was another pleasing second half performance according to Swan Hill women’s assistant coach Emma Pitts, albeit one in which her team were again forced to chase the game after a lacklustre start.
“We were happy with the way we finished the game, that’s definitely the big positive, that and our ability to fight out the match and compete with one of the top four teams and almost get a result,” Pitts told The Guardian post-match.
“We lost 5-0 to the same team back in our first game earlier this season, so to lose 2-1 shows that we’ve improved and come a long way in just nine games.
“That said, our first halves have been pretty average in the past couple of weeks.
“It’s something we have to work on and just keep getting better at because to be blunt, we were outworked pretty badly up to half time.
“We know we can compete with the better teams, we’ve shown it today in the second half and now it’s about being consistent within games and making sure we are at our best from the first minute and not the 45th minute.”
Goal scorer Baskin was one of the better players for the Swans, while Houlihan was also a strong contributor in defence throughout the match and provided a strong presence forward late in the game as well.
Also among Swan Hill’s better players was goal keeper Mardene de Villiers, defender Amity Scott, and wingers Demi Lai and Ruby Smith.
The Swans men’s team suffered an equally tough defeat in trying circumstances against Spring Gully United under lights in Bendigo on Saturday evening.
With fog making visibility difficult and heavy dew making ball handling difficult, the Swans also had to contend with a spate of in game injuries to key players Matteo Marchiori (groin), Noah Drummond (ankle) and Marcus Orlando (cut foot).
Although Orlando would later return to the field, their injuries further exacerbated the Swans’ injury crisis, with Van Bao Nguyen, Chris Herman, Joseph Costa and Karl Fedele among a host of players currently on the sidelines.
Despite the loss, Swan Hill men’s coach Tony Di Palma was pleased with his team’s effort, with the Swans third on the ladder ahead of their must-win match against Border Raiders FC this Sunday.
“The boys were outstanding in the first half and we matched them (Spring Gully United) in every part of the ground,” Di Palma said.
“The second half was a different story though when they started getting really physical and our boys weren’t quite ready or prepared for that I feel.
“It really was a brutal game, Cooper (Fox) was outstanding and Marcus Orlando and Jai Wright were exceptional also.
“The conditions made it really hard across the whole game, but there wasn’t an area of the pitch or an area of the game where we didn’t play well or the boys didn’t do their job.
“I couldn’t fault our guys’ effort or endeavour, they all stood up and backed each other but it was just their physicality in the second half where they had the edge.”
It was a different story for Swan Hill’s under 14 and under 16 boys teams, with both sides continuing their winning streaks on Saturday morning.
The under 16 boys team made it four consecutive wins with a 4-1 win over Border Raiders FC, with Oliver Miliado (three goals) and Kaidyn Tants (one goal) the goal scorers for Swan Hill.
Miliado’s hat-trick sees him extend his lead as his divisions leading goal scorer with 12 goals for the season.
The under 14 boys continued their unbeaten start to the season with a 3-1 win over Castlemaine Goldfields White, with James Mcgovern, Konnah Green and Jesse Crooymans all finding the back of the net for the Swans.
