A rollercoaster ride for Altona East Phoenix will ultimately end in a mundane mid-table finish in Football Federation Victoria men’s state league 1.
The Phoenix had the intoxicating high of a recent four-game winning streak when they threatened to be a major player at the business end of the season.
But their best football has been offset by rough patches that popped up at untimely moments. This is one such down period for the Phoenix, losing three consecutive games on their home field at Paisley Park, including Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to a rampant Sydenham Park.
Phoenix president Jim Dimitriou told
Star Weekly of the reasons behind the Phoenix’s latest form slump. “A few injuries and suspensions haven’t helped us,” he said. “Our squad is pretty thin at the moment.”
All four goals were scored in an entertaining first half.
Sydenham Park opened the game with the first two, taking advantage of two instances of untidy defence from the Phoenix.
The Phoenix pegged a goal back before their defensive frailties were exposed again.
“I thought if we’d gone in 2-1 down at half- time, we were every chance,” Dimitriou said. “It’s hard to come back from two goals down … we were playing catch-up.”
Phoenix will give coach Brian Sweeney and his team a pass mark for their season overall.
“From where we were at the start of the season to where we are now, we’re pretty happy,” Dimitriou said. “We lost a lot of players from last year and just about recruited a whole new team, so I think we’ve done okay.”
The coming off-season will be one of the most important in years for the Phoenix. The carrot of promotion to the NPL is likely to be dangled again next season and the competition for promotion will hot up.
“We’ll push towards that,” Dimitriou said. “We’re hoping to retain most of the players and we’ll try to recruit a few young and talented boys. I think we’ve got a good chance next year.”
The Phoenix’s star Japanese import, Keisuke Mizushima, will return home this week after an impressive season, but the club is hopeful the speedy striker will be back next winter.
“He’s been our recruit of the year,” Dimitriou said.
“He’s scored goals for us, been a real livewire up front and put a lot of pressure on the defence because he’s quick and tenacious.”
Altona Magic had a 2-1 win away to Sunbury United. Cem Cil fired in both goals for Magic, making it four in three games.
In state league 2, Yarraville Glory’s time at the top was short-lived. A 1-1 draw with Melbourne Uni saw it slide to third with two rounds to go.
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