Altona North wasn’t leaving anything to chance in its fight for promotion in the FV state league 3 north-west competition.
After missing out in the final round last season on goal difference, Altona North has locked in promotion with two rounds remaining.
Not only did the side seal promotion, but with other results falling its way it locked up the title.
Coach Bob Stojcevski said it was nice to achieve what they set out to do at the start of the year.
“We set high challenges for the team and we have achieved two and there’s another two to go,” he said.
“We were celebrating that we got promoted on the weekend but winning the league was not on our minds.
“We thought we might achieve that this coming weekend. The celebrations stayed the same, just the songs were different.”
Stojcevski said he didn’t want to go through the pain of last season again as the side watched its promotion hopes go by the wayside.
With the club celebrating 50 years, it makes the achievement even more special.
“It’s not often you can combine two milestones in the same year,” he said.
“From everyone’s perspective, the committee, supporters, everyone is so over the moon that it has all come together and we’ve won a championship.
“It makes it more special.”
While promotion and the championship is sealed, the task isn’t finished.
Stojcevski said they still had two more objectives they wanted to hit.
“We want to win the last two games,” he said. “We want to win every home game which we have never achieved in our history.
“It doesn’t impact the table, but if you win all your home games that is 33 points.
“The players and myself want to achieve that.
“Now we’ve won the league, the state league 3 final is thrown on the agenda.”
Stojcevski admits that it will be tough to stay focused, the group had trained really well in its first session after claiming the title.
Altona North will face second-placed Sunbury United, which is still in a battle with Surf Coast for second spot and the second promotion spot.
Stojcevski said they know that Sunbury has a lot to play for and are wary of them.
