SWAN Hill is on the cusp of winning the club’s first senior men’s soccer premiership after defeating the Moama-Echuca Border Raiders 6-0 at the weekend.
The result has left the Swans six points clear on top of the BASL Division 2 table after the Shepparton Jaguars claimed a 1-0 win over Deniliquin on Sunday afternoon.
With just two home-and-away games left to play in the season, it leaves the Swans needing to secure one more point from their final two matches in order to claim the title.
Swan Hill went into the match undermanned, with as many as 10 regular senior players missing from the line-up. Replacing them were three of the club’s talented under-16 players, Jacob Thompson, Cal Croskery and Faizal Amran. All three comfortably stepped up to senior level and showed the club’s future is in good hands.
It didn’t take long for the Swans to open the scoring, with Thompson scoring the first of two goals in the fourth minute in a dream start. Michael Kadar doubled the lead when he headed home a well taken corner from Croskery in the 11th minute before Ethan Fox slammed home the Swans’ third just five minutes later.
With Swan Hill dominating possession and the back four of Kadar, Blaze Hamilton, Anyueer Buol and Wiseman Sibanda cleaning up anything that came their way, it wasn’t long before the game was put beyond doubt, with Thompson scoring again to give Swan Hill a 4-0 lead at half-time.
Kadar completed a brace when he scored in the 59th minute, with Croskery putting the icing on the cake with his first goal in senior football three minutes before the full-time whistle.
Ben Muir-Howie and Cooper Fox were strong through the midfield and Ethan Fox was dynamic up forward for the Swans, while Goalkeeper Riley McCosh kept the Border Raiders goalless with his sixth clean sheet of the season.
While the men’s team had a comfortable victory, the same couldn’t be said for Swan Hill’s women’s side, who lost away to Castlemaine Goldfields FC on Sunday afternoon.
The Swans fought hard in the first half, keeping their opposition to two goals in the opening 45 minutes, however fell away with tired legs as the game progressed to go down 8-0.
Regardless of the score, it was an encouraging performance from a young team who continues to improve, especially with no bench to call on in the second half. Captain Taylah Baird performed well in the role of goalkeeper, while Abbey Houlihan, Shakira Siggins and the returning Kayla Harvey could all be well pleased with their performance.
