Tara Murray
It’s the old cliché, but Altona City continues to take it one week at a time in the FV state league 1 north-west competition.
City sits five points clear at the top of the ladder after 14 rounds with a game in hand on the chasing pack.
City coach Michael Calandrella said despite the good first half of the season, they weren’t getting complacent.
“The season is going really well so far,” he said. “It has been tough, but the boys are doing well.
“They are working hard and we’ve got a great group of guys this season.
“It’s a tight knit group and we’ve got some favourable results so far.”
Calandrella said the hardest thing this season had been the level of competition with no easy matches.
He said they needed to be switched on every game and they know that other teams are chasing them.
“We need to make sure we are working hard week in, week out or we will drop games,” he said.
“We’ve been on top for five or six weeks and teams want to knock us off.
“We chatted to the boys a couple of weeks ago and they are used to it now. It is what it is.”
On Saturday night, City accounted for Upfield with a 4-1 win.
“The boys were really good in the first half when we managed to get a 3-0 lead,” Calandrella said.
“We closed it out in the second half and won 4-1. It was a really good performance and I’m proud of them.”
It was all single goal scorers for City with Adam Oddo, Luis Covarrubias, Jayson Ziro and Yudai Kumasaka finding the back of the net.
Calandrella said they didn’t really focus on the ladder position and the points despite what may be ahead.
This season backs up a strong 2022 when the side finished in sixth place.
“It’s week by week,” he said. “It might sound boring and cliché.
“We look at the next game and that is about as far as it goes.”
City this week faces Whittlesea Ranges who have won their last two games. The Ranges appointed a new coach last week, Kevin Theuma.
Calandrella said they were expecting another really tough game against a side that is growing in confidence.
In other matches, Yarraville Glory slipped further away from the top teams, losing to Whittlesea Ranges on Friday night.
The Ranges scored twice in the first half to get the win
The Glory now sits in ninth spot with just three wins.
The Glory this week face Strathmore.
In state league 2 north-west, Altona North suffered an 8-2 loss to Albion Rovers, while Altona East Phoenix had a 3-1 win against Mill Park.
The Phoenix sit in third spot and Altona North in 10th spot.
