Tara Murray
Altona North is excited for the challenge ahead of it in the FV state league 2 north-west competition.
Having finished second in state league 3 last season and earning promotion, it’s a new challenge for the side.
Coach Alan Muscat said this season would be something new for them.
“It’s an exciting time for the football club and we’re really looking forward to the challenge this year,” he said.
“For us being new to the league, we want to try and find our feel. We want to be competitive.
“We’ve put together a really competitive team for this league and think we’re in a good position, let’s see where it takes us.”
Muscat said they had kept the core group from last season as they step up a grade. He said they had also added a number of new players who had joined the squad.
Muscat didn’t want to single out any of the new players, saying they would all make an impact.
“We’ve added some experienced players and we’ve added some more kids for some more fire power,” he said.
“We’ve added some players with some experience, players who have played at a decent level as a collective.
“We looked to see where the deficiencies were and where we needed to strengthen the side.”
Muscat said the journey the club has taken in his time at the club has been a really exciting one.
The side was playing in state league 4 west when he took over as coach.
“When I started four or five years ago we were in state league 4 and we’ve only played two and half seasons [due to COVID] and gone up to divisions.
“It’s really good in relation to where the football club wants to go. We’re not a big club, we’re a family club.
“Since COVID we’ve brought young juniors into the club. Previously we only had seniors, reserves and a thirds side.
“The club is building well.”
Altona North started its official matches on Saturday in the third round of the Australia Cup, hosting Hampton East Brighton. The side entered in this round of the competition with the other state league 1 and 2 sides.
Altona North led 1-0 at half time, but Hampton was too strong in the second half, winning 3-2.
In other results, Altona East Phoenix beat Brandon Park 4-3, Williamstown beat Peninsular Strikers 2-0, Altona City beat Melbourne SRBIJA 2-0 and Melbourne City lost to Westvale Olympic 4-0.
