Tara Murray
Sydenham Park continues to aim high in the FV state league 1 north-west competition.
After sitting third last season when the season was called off, Sydenham has recruited well as it aims to stay in the top teams.
Assistant coach Milan Batur said it was a bit different from what it was last season.
“The squad is a bit different,” he said. “We’ve had a few players go to the NPL [National Premier League] which isn’t ideal, but it means other clubs are looking at us.
“We’ve had to change the line up. We’ve added a few young boys and added a bit of experience. We are happy with what we have.”
Among the young players is Zach Lisolajski who has played almost every minute in the opening two rounds, while Daniel Vidakovic, who is only 19, has had an impact having crossed from Melbourne Knights youth side.
“We’ve also added a few players from interstate that have played NPL” Batur said.
Sydenham has started the season with mixed results. They lost in round one to Keilor Park, before getting on the board in round two.
Sydenham was set to face Banyule in round three on Saturday, which was after deadline.
Batur said this season they were again aiming for a top two finish.
“The NPL has been a long term goal of ours for a while now,” he said.
“It would be fantastic not just for the club, but the community overall. We weren’t far off last season.
“It was the goal last season and we come into this season and we want to finish top two.”
Batur said things across the club were going really well.
“We’ve got a pretty good junior set up,” he said.
“One or two younger reserves train with the senior side to understand what it is about and we’re always looking at bringing in the youth side of things.
“We’ve got some really good funding and there’s sponsors on board. Everyone is coming together.”
