Tara Murray
Spring Hills men’s and women’s sides have very different aims for the back part of the FV season.
The club’s state league men’s 4 west side is hoping to get enough wins to avoid relegation, while the women’s side is aiming for promotion in the Victorian Premier League.
Spring Hills’ Tom Markovski said they are aware how crucial the next part of the season is for the side.
“It’s getting to the business end of the season,” he said. “We need to get a couple of wins to make sure we are where we want to be, mid table.
“We’ve got a couple of big games to come. We want to put a points gap on them.”
Markovski said while there had been some real growth in the men’s side the results hadn’t shown it.
He said the group had taken time to gel, but had started to settle more.
“The results don’t show the way that we have played,” he said. “We’ve been happy with the way we’ve been playing.
“We’ve had a couple out with injuries and they have come back. We conceded in the 89th, 92nd, 96th minutes, the last kick of the day.
“We’ve been a bit unlucky.”
The Stallions face Barnstoneworth United, which is five points ahead, on Saturday.
While the men’s side is fighting for survival in state league 4 west, Spring Hills women’s side continues to go from strength to strength.
Spring Hills sits third on the VPL table in their first season in the competition, just three points behind the leaders.
Markovski, who coaches the side, said while they were happy with where they are, but know they’ve got a big few weeks ahead of them.
“It will be tough the next few games,” he said.
“We have three girls away on a holiday at the moment and then two more after this week and two weeks later another four.
“It’s about juggling who plays where, but we’ve had some young girls step up. We had three 15-year-olds starting which is good..”
Markovski said the depth at the club continues to show with plenty of young talent getting opportunities.
He said four of their under-15s have played in the club’s state league 2 side, while all of their under-17s have had a run too.
With the season getting to the pointy end, Markovski said the next three games would give them an idea of where they will finish.
“At the moment we have a great opportunity to finish in the top two,” he said.
“When you get to the last six games and you’re in the spot we are, you push for promotion and look to go for it.
“It would be a bonus to go straight into the NPL [National Premier League]. We have got girls ready to come and play as they like what we do.
“But we’re taking it just one week at a time.”
