Tara Murray
Westside Strikers need to find some wins in the last month of the FV state league 3 north-west season to ensure their future in that division.
The Strikers sit in third last of the close competition after 18 rounds, which puts them in them in the relegation conversation.
Having only been promoted into state league 3 this season, Strikers coach Simon Vasconcelo is keen to make sure they stay up.
“We have a very important three games at the end of the season,” he said. “Hopefully we can get some more points.
“We’ve played the top five in the last four weeks and this week coming. It’s been a hard run and at the same time we’ve had players overseas and injured.
“We keep plugging in the holes.”
The bottom two teams from state league 3 north-west will be relegated, while the third bottom team will play off against a state league 4 team to save their spot.
Vasconcelo said they were keen to move outside of the bottom three so they don’t have to face a relegation game.
He said for much of the season it had been a close competition, but the top teams were now starting to break away.
“We want to keep the team up for the council area [Melton],” he said. “We want to get Westside Strikers a bit higher to make it easier to retain players and talent in the council area.”
Currently the Strikers are three points behind Point Cook and four points behind the Sebastopol Vikings.
“We have Moreland [United] coming up and every team seems to be taking the points against them,” Vasconcelo said.
“That would put us one point behind Point Cook. Hopefully we can jump them and Sebastopol and finish in fourth last and we don’t have to worry about the play off.”
On Saturday, the Strikers suffered a loss to Williamstown, 1-0, the Strikers third loss in a row.
Vasconcelo said despite the tough run, the group had taken plenty of confidence into the match.
“The boys played really well and their spirits were up,” he said.
“Williamstown converted in the first half and we then established ourselves. We had chances to get into the game.
“It could have gone either way in the second half. We should have scored right at the end, but it wasn’t to be.”
The Strikers this week face fourth placed Uni Hill Eagles.
In state league 4 west, Spring Hills lost its local derby with Keilor Wolves.
The Wolves came away with a 1-0 win. Spring Hills remains in 11th.
In state league 5 west, Melton Phoenix had a day out against Ballarat, winning 7-2. Melton led 2-1 at half time before a dominant second half.
The Phoenix sit in third spot, five points behind second.
