Doves to take back seat

By Stuart Teather
DOVETON is on its way down to the provisional league after losing its do-or-die clash with North Caulfield 4-2 in the final round of the State League Division Three South-East, on Sunday.
The game was make-or-break for both sides, with the loser destined to be relegated.
North Caulfield came out better in the first half and got the early breakthrough, which gave the side a 1-0 lead at halftime.
The Doves hit back after the break through Hugo Reyes, and with the scores level, Doveton coach Michael Kupinic said the game was there for the taking.
“I thought it was going to be game on, but it’s happened to us so many times, we just weren’t able to keep people out, and in the end the old story where we were just giving goals away,” he said.
North Caulfield pushed out to a 3-1 lead before Doveton striker Leon Buhic was brought down in the box, earning a penalty, which he converted to bring the margin back to one.
But the Doves could not find the net again, and North Caulfield nailed the coffin shut with a final goal late in injury time.
Kupinic was brutally honest after the game.
“They were a lot sharper than we were, and they thoroughly deserved to win,” said Kupinic.
Kupinic said the club had a lot of issues to address if it was going to be competitive in seasons to come.
He said they really have to have a good look at what happened over the course of the season.
“You can’t play at any sort of level and have players at 38, 39, 40 years of age playing, and that’s one of the problems.”
Kupinic also said Doveton had to create a club and admitted that it was a hard thing to do.
“The players they’ve had over the last few years have come from all over the place, and they really haven’t got the passion for the place, and that makes life difficult,” he said.
“I think we can sit back and make all sorts of excuses, but that gets you absolutely nowhere, if anyone has a look at our record of the goals we’ve conceded, it’s there, it tells you exactly why we are where we are,” he added.
Endeavour United will join Doveton in the Provisional league next year as the side finished a distant last, with just three wins for the season.
Despite the record, Endeavour took it to topside Morwell Pegasus in their final game on Saturday, eventually going down 3-2.
Berwick City finished off its season on a high, knocking over rivals Springvale City 3-1 to finish fourth on the ladder.
Matthew Nitz, Justin Fernand and Orlando Mejias all scored for Berwick, while Faruk Hadziabdic slotted one for Springvale.
In Division Two South East, the Casey Comets finished off with a win, defeating Peninsula 3-2 at Cranbourne.