By Stuart Teather
THIS weekend marks the kick-off of the 2009 soccer season, with the State Leagues getting underway.
The News caught up with the local clubs to see how they were tracking in the lead-up to the big first round.
@BT Sub Sport News:State League Division Two South-East
Casey Comets
Casey has been busy during the off-season trying to plug the nine gaps left in the squad since June last year, and some big names have come on board.
Steve Vernon and Marcus Brownlie are two of the big name recruits who have come across from Peninsula Strikers.
Coach Tony Saunders, who joined the club mid-way through the 2008 season and played a big part in helping it avoid relegation, said he expected his new strikers to contribute to a more attacking style of play.
“It’ll be a bit more attacking type of game, I prefer to play that type of game,” he said. “We’re getting there, we’re getting a good mix of youth and experience, that’s what we’re trying to achieve.”
Saunders said David Terek, Steve Vernon and Daniel Motta were some of the standouts in the pre-season.
@BT Sub Sport News:State League Division Three South-East
Berwick City
Berwick City has retained coach Joe Carrol and, with a number of big signings, looks on track for success in 2009.
Carrol raved about his new recruits, including Adam Ewin from Premier League club Oakleigh, James Ashby from division one side Kingston and Scottish native Fraser Chisholm, just to name a few.
Ewin will slot in to the back four and Carrol said he hoped his experience would boost the side. “He’s a great coup for us to get,” he said. “He’s a dominating centre half or anywhere in the back four really.
“I’m hoping that defensively he’ll lead that back four and with his experience, the other defenders will learn a lot from him,” he said.
Ashby is a former Berwick City junior, who played division one last year at Kingston.
“He’d probably kick his granny if you asked him to,” Carrol said. “But he’d do it pretty quietly and very efficiently,” he said with a laugh.
@BT Sub Sport News:Provisional League Division One South-East
Doveton
After being relegated to Provisional League One at the end of last season, Doveton is rebuilding with a new coach and a vastly different roster.
Jim Morrison joined the Doves from Warragul, replacing former coach Michael Kupinic who took a coaching job at Heatherton United.
Morrison said aside from a few key signings, the club had a focus on recruiting young players as it looks to rebuild and work its way back to the State Leagues.
“We’ve re-signed Leon Buhic and Hugo Reyes, and Buhic played in Germany and Melbourne Knights, Reyes played in the Premier League and for Dandenong Thunder,” he said. “There’s a big influx of new players, hopefully we can rebuild it.
“The mandate is to build for the future, the squad would be of an average age of 23-24, and the reserves are full of kids 16 and 17.”
@BT Sub Sport News:Endeavour United
Endeavour United will join Doveton in Provisional League One after also being relegated from State League Three at the end of last season.
The club struggled through last season after coach Carlos Retre departed mid-season, but 2008 interim-coach Claudio Santos has returned for season 2009 and the club is on the rebuild.
President Jose Napoleon said things were looking positive for the start of the season.
“We were down to about six or seven players but we managed to get a few of the other guys back this year so we’ve got a full squad,” he said. “We’ve got about six players from our under-15 Super League team injected into the first team this year, which is exciting for some of our young kids.
“We’re hoping to return to the State Three next year, I know it’s a big call but I think we’ve got enough players to get us back into the State Three.”
