Melton coach Theo Karapanagiotidis is taking plenty of positives from his side’s state league 4 soccer season.
Although Phoenix couldn’t match its championship-winning heroics from state league 5 a year earlier, Melton more than held its own against the stronger opposition.
Melton finished fourth on the table with 11 wins for the season.
“People might laugh, but I think we achieved equal, if not more, than we achieved last year,” Karapanagiotidis said.
“Other than three or four sides last year, it was a pretty soft league and we were virtually injury-free the whole year.
“Everything went as smoothly as possible and in the two or three games where we had to play well, we did.
“This year we had a lot of trouble with injuries. We had four or five knee injuries and people were going overseas for holidays.
“It was unbelievable, and I think that finishing fourth was a great result.”
While disappointed that injuries to key players halted the club’s charge up the ladder, Karapanagiotidis was full of praise for the players who stood up in their place.
He highlighted the work of Rhys Cody as a standout throughout the campaign.
After playing most of the club’s 2013 season in the reserves, Cody forced himself into the seniors 10 times.
“Rhys was in and out of the side for five or six rounds and then became a mainstay of the side,” Karapanagiotidis said. “This is a massive call by me, but any NPL side looking for a very talented young player, Cody’s going to be a superstar.
“He’s a great kid and works really hard all the time.”
Despite the season only just finishing, Karapanagiotidis has already started formulating his plan of attack for 2015.
Melton will again be in state league 4, but with the division’s dominant force, Hoppers Crossing, promoted, the Phoenix will go into the new season as one of the favourites.
“To get to the next level you have to recruit,” Karapanagiotidis said.
“Even though the guys who came in were outstanding, I still think the club was lacking a little bit of depth this year.
“With every sport there needs to be some sort of turnover. At the end of the day, we need to strengthen our side.
“We want to do our utmost to be like Hoppers were this year. They were a phenomenal machine and I guess that’s the aim of our club.”
