THE Swan Hill men’s soccer team appear destined to play a knockout semi-final following their 3-0 loss to Golden City SC on Sunday afternoon.
The Swans were outplayed in the second half of their clash against the Rams, who as a result of the win moved to second place on the Bendigo Amateur Soccer League Division 2 ladder.
All three goals came after half-time, with the two teams playing out a scoreless first half at the Ken Harrison Reserve.
The loss leaves Swan Hill needing to defeat bottom of the ladder Deniliquin Wanderers this Sunday, while also hoping Golden City fail to beat fourth placed Strathfieldsaye in the final round of the home-and-away season.
Sunday would prove to be a disappointing afternoon for the club, with Swan Hill’s women’s team also suffering defeat, with the Swans losing 4-0 at home to Strathfieldsaye Colts United in a physical and at times spiteful match.
After conceding twice in the first half, the Swans were unable to work their way back into the contest after half-time, with the visitors again scoring in the 48th and 53rd minutes.
The loss matters little in the context of Swan Hill’s season however, with the Swans women’s side destined for their first Super Cup finals appearance in the history of the club in a fortnight’s time, which will also be hosted in Swan Hill.
Despite Sunday’s defeat, Swan Hill women’s assistant coach was quick to praise her squad, with their long-awaited semi-finals appearance now just around the corner.
“It would have been nice to finish our regular season on a high today (Sunday), but it wasn’t too be,” Pitts told The Guardian.
“It’s an amazing achievement for our squad to make the finals, which is what we set out to do at the start of the season.
“From where we were just a couple of years ago, when we didn’t win a game and were getting thoroughly beaten every week, it’s been an amazing turnaround.
“There’s been a lot of players come through our club and never experience what this group is about too, it’s exciting for the girls.
“We know it’s not going to be easy and we’re going to be coming up against a quality opponent, no matter whether it’s Castlemaine or Kyneton, but we know we are capable of causing an upset.
“We haven’t had our best team out on the park at any stage this season, we’ve always had injuries or unavailability’s and the fact that we go in as underdogs I think will be a positive for us.”
Also in action over the weekend was the clubs under-14 team, who held on to record a hard fought 3-2 win over Castlemaine Goldfields White on Saturday.
Josh Gibbs, Zeke Simmons and Elijah Swartz all scored for the Swans, who after leading 2-0 at half-time had to hold off a fast-finishing Castlemaine in the second half.
Swan Hill’s under-16’s team had the bye.
