It took until a month into the season for Maribyrnong Swifts to realise they were building something special.
The Swifts admit that early on they had a bit of an inferiority complex borne of a rough previous season and a lack of ambition compared to the more established clubs.
When the Swifts eventually realised their potential, there was no stopping them en route to the FFV women’s state league 3 west title.
“We didn’t realise we were that strong until the fourth or fifth game,” Swifts coach Davide Gualtieri told Star Weekly.
“We’re not the kind of club that believed the team will win the league because we’re really young – like four or five years old – and we’ve struggled for the past two years.”
Maribyrnong sealed the title with a comprehensive 7-0 win over local rivals Yarraville Glory on home soil at Johnson Reserve in the final round.
The Swifts were unbeaten over the season, winning 13 and drawing three of their 16 games.
Gualtieri’s team was stingy defensively, conceding just nine goals for the campaign.
The Swifts had up to nine players rotate through the defence, with Delia Dargham, Phoebe Mack, Natalie Harrison and Katharina Gerste as the mainstays.
But the Swifts also scored truckloads of goals, 54 in all, without possessing a dominant striker.
They scored goals by committee with Belinda Huynh leading the way with 11, closely followed by Amy Johnson and Matilda Myers (nine each) and Anja Boyens (eight).
Gualtieri was proud of the style of football played by the Swifts and some of the spectacular team build-ups to goal.
“We had to build the beautiful goal to be able to score,” he said.
“We couldn’t rely on one strong player, passing the ball to them and something happening.
“We had to build up play and work hard to score, so a lot of tactics was involved, which is part of my background because obviously in Italy we do a lot of tactics.
“The girls got into the tactics quite easily and the connectivity of the team was the most important.”
Maribyrnong is about to prepare for life in the much tougher state league 2.
It’s a daunting prospect for the Swifts, but so was this season before they realised what they were capable of producing.
“I can’t tell you how proud we are,” Gualtieri said.
“It was the first time we’ve been promoted ever, the first time we won the league and the first time we’ve been through undefeated.
“We were a really tiny club and now we’re up to state 2, so we’re happy.
“It’s a challenge that scares us a little bit, but I’m pretty sure we’re going to do alright next year. The most important thing is we’re trying not to change the culture of the club, which is still really friendly and social because there can be too much pressure sometimes.
“We’re just talking about soccer, it’s just a game and that’s the key point.”
