Tara Murray
Things are starting to click for Altona City in the FV state league 1 north-west.
City has won two of its first three matches, with coach Michael Calandrella happy with how things are going so far.
“It’s going well,” he said. “We had a good game on Friday night against Upfield and we are really happy with how it has started.
“We’ve kept the core group from last season and we’ve added some new players to strengthen the squad.”
Calandrella said the side showed their best form of the season so far in the match against Upfield, which was called off in the 73rd minute.
He said the performance showed the hard work they were putting in on the track was paying off.
“We conceded an early goal in the second minute, but after that the boys really took over,” he said.
“We played our best game in the league and scored three goals. It was 3-1 when there was an unfortunate injury to their goalkeeper, who broke his leg.
“They had to call the game off.”
After finishing sixth last season, Calandrella said the aim was again to be up there with the top sides.
He said the squad was working really hard and they were liking what they were seeing.
A number of players joined Altona City in the off season.
Jordan Lam has come out from Wales to play for Altona City, while Japanese player Yudai Kumasaka has joined the club from the state league 1 south-east competition.
Marcus Petricca and Adam Oddo both joined from Werribee City and Damjan Damcevski has crossed from Preston.
Jeremy Vun and Jake Latia are among the other inclusions.
Luis Covarrubias, who has crossed from Brimbank Stallions has starred so far for Altona, scoring five goals in three games including two on the weekend.
There’s no rest for Altona which is back in action on Wednesday in the Australia Cup competition.
Calandrella said he would look to make the most out of the game.
“We play Geelong, which is an NPL side so it will be a tough ask. We’ll use the cup to top up some minutes of some of our boys who have not played a lot of game time.
“We need to get time into them in case we have injuries during the season, we will need to call on them.”
Altona then has a much welcomed bye with no matches on the Easter weekend.
In other matches, Yarraville Glory had a 3-2 loss to Whittlesea Ranges on Friday night.
Ranges scored the winner in the 95th minute.
In state league 2 north-west, Altona North had a 1-1 draw with Albion Rovers, while Altona East Phoenix had a 1-1 draw with Mill Park.
In state league 3 north-west, Williamstown lost to Uni Hill Eagles, 2-1, while in state league 4 west, Melbourne City beat Barnstoneworth United 3-1, Laverton lost to Moonee Valley Knights 4-2.
