By Tara Murray
Westside Strikers can sew up promotion and go one step further to the FFV state league 5 west title this weekend.
A win against Melton Phoenix this Saturday will be enough to give the Strikers a guaranteed top-two finish with three rounds remaining. The Strikers are six points clear of second-placed Gisborne and 11 points clear of West Point and Keilor Wolves.
Strikers president Sam Raniolo said the year was going well.
“We’re reasonably happy, 17 games undefeated,” he said. “We are close to getting the title. We need four points to secure it.
“To get two wins would be great. We made it hard for ourselves last week with a draw. We could have already secured promotion.”
It’s a massive achievement for the Strikers which is fielding senior teams for the first time.
Raniolo said the club, from the juniors all the way up, was excited by how things had panned out this year.
“We’ve exceeded expectations,” he said.
“Sometimes we’re getting 100 people at games. Some state league 2 sides struggle to get 20 to 50 people at games.”
The Strikers had a bye at the weekend, which Raniolo said came at a good time with a few players battling niggling injuries.
As well as chasing the title and promotion, Raniolo said they would also love to go through the season undefeated.
“Not many teams do that for the whole
year, especially not in their first season,” he said.
Melton Phoenix will come into this week’s match on the back of a 2-0 loss to Moonee Valley at the weekend.
After winning their past four matches, the Phoenix took plenty of confidence into the game but couldn’t continue their streak.
Moonee Valley opened the scoring in the first half, before going on to win 2-0.
The Phoenix sit eighth with a 7-3-7 record.
In state league 4 west, Spring Hills suffered a setback in its campaign for promotion.
One of three sides fighting for second spot and a play-off game, the Stallions fell short against Altona North, losing 2-1. Captain Josip Loncaric scored the Stallions’ goal through a penalty.
The Stallions are fourth, but have played one less game than the sides above them.
