Spring Hills top sides have their eyes set firmly on promotion in FFV state league, with both the men and women on track.
The men are competing in FFV state league 5 west after being relegated last season.
After starting the season 1-1-1, the Stallions have won their next nine games and are on top of the ladder.
On Saturday, they defeated Kyneton District 6-2.
Stallions coaching director Tom Markovski said that after the disappointment of last year, they had decided on a new approach and brought in National Premier League coach David Maglovski as coach.
“We decided to have a fresh start,” Markovski said. “We got a younger group of players, but decided we would still be looking at promotion.
“We wanted to be in a strong position for next season. We were expecting to be in the top three at the halfway mark and we’ve achieved that.”
Markovski said despite having a young group of players, they had gelled together well.
Many have come through the club’s under-18 and under-20 sides. He said making it attractive for those players to stay at the club instead of going elsewhere was a big focus for the club.
He said they would get a clearer indication in the next couple of weeks of where they sit as they start playing return fixtures against other teams towards the top of the table.
Meanwhile, the women’s side is looking for a second straight promotion.
Playing in state league 3 west, the Stallions are third on the ladder after eight rounds – four points off top and two points off second.
On Saturday, they defeated St Albans Saints 5-0.
“I believe our female set-up is second to none,” Markovski said. “We want to push towards NPL and think we have the facilities to do that. We’ve got the juniors coming through, as well. We’ve got two under-16 girls teams and two under-14 girls teams.”
Meanwhile, in men’s state league 4 west, Melton Phoenix continues to struggle. With just a single win this season so far, the Phoenix are looking at relegation. On Saturday, they lost 2-0 to Sebastopol Vikings.
