By JARROD POTTER AND RUSSELL BENNETT
DOVETON Soccer Club is ready for its first tilt in Football Federation Victoria’s (FFV) State League 2 competition, after gaining promotion from State League 3 last season.
Doveton has lost a couple of players to retirement – but has retained its best like Simon Mur and recruited strongly in the off-season.
“It will obviously be a lot tougher than last year,” Doveton coach Tony Saunders said.
“it will be a tough season, we’ve lost a couple of players to retirement – Rory Todd and Anthony Saunders – and we’ll replace their experience with more experience.
“Got a couple of new lads – Matty Evans (Knox) and Gavin Moon (Knox) and goalkeeper Mark Jorgenson (Nunawading).”
Saunders thinks his charges will need to work on their technical nous in their new division, as fitness and skill are high as per usual.
“Probably on the technical ability – lot more experienced players up in that league so mistakes for example get punished a lot easier, fitness-wise we’ll be OK, but it will be more mental attitude and concentration for us,” Saunders said.
From the start of their rise through the divisions in 2001 when Doveton played in Provisional League 1, Saunders said the majority of players had stuck by the club for the better part of 10 years and formed the nucleus of their strike force.
“Will be a tough division for us, always a challenge when you go up and this is no different,” Saunders said.
“Most of the seniors are from Prov 1 – guys here who were 15-16 who are still here so they’re going well – so it will be a big year for us and a very interesting year.”
Doveton has a ton of local competition in State League 2 with Endeavour Hills-based side Dandenong City, Springvale White Eagles, Noble Park United and round one opposition South Springvale SC making for a tight cluster of clubs around the City of Casey/Greater Dandenong area.
In State League 3, Berwick City and the Casey Comets will vie for promotion, with Carlos Retre demanding more of his Berwick City side ahead of their season-opener against Warragul United on Saturday at home.
“Last year we finished quite strongly, and if we had have been better in the first half we could’ve gone closer to promotion,” Retre said.
“Our aim is to finish better than what we did last year – we finished fourth and from the year before we just avoided relegation.
“We don’t want to put the pressure on the players, but we want to win and want to finish higher than what we did last year and be competitive from start to finish.”
City has retained their gun players Dion Pavlic, Pedro Seqeira and Orlando Meijas.
“We didn’t want to make too many changes – we didn’t need to – we got three or four players that we think will make a big difference for us.”
But this year’s Comets side will barely resemble the one that took to the field in State League 2 last season.
New coach Stan Webster acknowleged that “pretty much everyone but the goalkeeper” had left following the side’s relegation into State League 3.
But among a long list of inclusions is exciting Scottish trio Sean McLaughlan, Frank Gibson and Chris Reid.
They will join midfielder Jason Rand and defender John McLuskie who have come across from the Morwell Pegasus, and Matthew Morris-Thomas who has made the switch from Mornington.
Webster can’t wait to get the season underway and show off the side’s new, fast-paced attacking style.
He returns to the Comets for the first time in 13 years after winning a Division 3 championship in his last stint. He has since won the Victorian Premier League Coach of the Year award for his work with Frankston Pines.
Webster said the Comets would be aiming for a top four finish in State League 3 this season, before potentially looking at a Victorian Champions League licence at some stage down the track.
