SWAN Hill’s men’s soccer team have locked away yet another Bendigo Amateur Soccer League Super Cup finals appearance with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Strathfieldsaye Colts United in Bendigo on the weekend.
It will be the fourth consecutive season that the Swans have played finals, with two of those seasons resulting in premiership wins in 2022 and 2024.
Saturday’s two-goal win over the highly fancied Colts sees Swan Hill climb to second on the League 2 table and sit seven points behind ladder leaders Spring Gully United in the race to this year’s championship.
Just as important is that Saturday’s result moves the Swans 11 points clear inside the top four with just four rounds remaining.
In a season that was meant to be one of rebuilding for Swan Hill, it has all of a sudden become a chance to make history according to men’s coach Tony Di Palma, with the Swans looking to claim back-to-back titles for the first time in the club’s history.
“We weren’t expecting a season like this at all at the start of the year, if we could have finished mid-table and maybe made and won that first final so to speak, that would have been an outstanding year for us,” Di Palma told The Guardian.
“It was meant to be a rebuild, but now that we know we have that chance, we’re going to be focused on the top two and finishing as high as we can.
“Spring Gully is the benchmark team of the whole competition and we play them this weekend coming, so this week’s going to be a game that gives us an idea of where we are at heading into the finals.
“If we can come away with a win or even a good result, that will give us an idea of what the next three to four weeks are going to have in store for us.”
After a scoreless first half, it was the Swans who started the better after half time, with the opening goal of the match coming from midfielder Ethan Drummond in the 70th minute.
It didn’t take long for Swan Hill to double their advantage, with Liam Baldwin finding the back of the net two minutes later to give the Swans a two-goal lead with just 18 minutes remaining.
From there, the visitors never relented, with Di Palma pleased with his sides second half after giving them “a good old fashioned spray” at half time.
“It was our first game for three or four weeks, so to come out and play Colts and beat them on their home ground, well you couldn’t ask for much more than that,” Di Palma said.
“The boys in the first half were pretty tight, and it was more of a defensive game from both teams, we were taking it forward but we just weren’t using it well and I suppose in many respects neither were they.
“The boys copped a good old fashioned spray at half time and to their credit we came out with a different mindset.
“It took us a bit of time for us to score but it was a team effort though and the boys just picked up the pace and worked as a team.
Drummond not only scored the game’s opening goal but was also Swan Hill’s most effective midfielder, with Swans captain Cooper Fox also playing a starring role in midfield.
It was Swan Hill’s defence that stood firm however, with Anyueer Majur, Jai Wright and Marcus Orlando all producing strong performances in the back four.
Also trying to secure their finals aspirations were Swan Hill’s women’s team, who will now have to wait another week for a chance to lock away the first Super Cup finals appearance in the club’s history after falling 5-1 to Castlemaine Goldfields Green.
It was a gritty performance from the Swans despite the final score, with key players Amity Scott, Skye Bennett, Sarah Feltrin and Heidi Annand all missing from their line-up.
It took until the 36th minute for leading contenders Castlemaine to break the deadlock, with the Swans going into the main break trailing 1-0.
Again Swan Hill fought hard to stay in the contest, with the Swans’ defence of Abbey Houlihan, Sarah Scott, Ruby Maher and Rhyleigh Pope-Frazer working overtime to repel Castlemaine’s attacks.
That was until the 63rd minute when Bronte Midgley-Mather scored the visitors second goal, with another three goals following in quick succession over the next 15 minutes.
There was some joy for Swan Hill however when Trinity Shelton got a goal back for the Swans in the 82nd minute, with the match finishing at 5-1 not long after.
Also in action over the weekend were Swan Hill’s under 14 and under 16 teams, with the under 14 team claiming this year’s championship in their first season in the competition with a 5-0 win over Castlemaine Goldfields Green.
The Swans now hold a 12-point lead on top of the table with just three rounds to play, giving them an unassailable advantage at the top of the ladder.
Julian Pugliese scored two goals for Swan Hill, with Rylan Muir-Howie, Conor Mcgovern and Konnah Green also finding the back of the net.
The under 16 team will be hoping to join their junior counterparts in winning their divisions championship this weekend following their 7-0 win over Strathfieldsaye Colts United on Saturday morning.
In was an equally impressive performance from the under 16s side, with Oliver Miliado scoring five of the Swans’ seven goals for the match, with Kit Croskery and Kaidyn Tants also scoring.
