How have soccer outfits in the Goulburn Valley fared in 2021?

May 31, 2021

With the round ball game grinding to a brief halt due to Victoria's seven-day circuit breaker lockdown, what better time for The News to analyse the Goulburn Valley sides’ progress as the season nears the halfway mark.

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Goulburn Valley Suns

Men: B+

Yes, the Suns have cooled down a touch from a stifling hot three-game unbeaten streak to kick things off (the side’s best start since 2015). And though they sit in fifth, here are a few considerations; Craig Carley’s charges are only three points off top. They also hold the league’s second-most admirable defensive record. So, whose backs need patting? Evidently, everyone's. Conceding 12 goals in nine games sends a cogent message which indicates a tight ship is being run through the side’s core, highlighted by the sparkling additions of Shane Dunne and Ellis Williamson. However, what stops the Orangemen from earning top marks is their proficiency in the goal-scoring department. While boasting a stringent record at the back, the Suns haven’t been rippling the net nearly enough — in fact, they’ve scored the third-least out of their counterparts in 2021. George Murrihy is proving a handful out wide. Vani Shamoon is enjoying a renaissance as a striker. But should the Suns be near promotion contention in a few months’ time, someone must shoulder the task of smashing them in — and fast.

Shepparton South

Men: B

Perched in fourth, South is the pick of Goulburn Valley’-based BASL outfits — on paper. Losing 5-1 to Tatura was a fairly notable stumble, but the Southerners have dusted themselves off since and looked a side capable of anything when smashing third-placed Epsom to smithereens in the last round. They’ve also left no stone unturned on the recruiting front. Tapping into the cricketing crop has granted coach Rob Harmeston the services of Keegan Armstrong and Callan McCabe, with both showing no teething problems in switching from the gentleman’s game to the beautiful one. Finally, South’s more experienced heads have laced their shooting boots this season, with Joel Aitken (five goals) and Shaun Kane (four) at their ruthless best.

Women: B-

It seems an anomaly worth talking about that South has scored 49 goals in seven games — and are just hanging on in the table’s top half. However, remove a 24-0 demolition job at Swan Hill and the side's sixth placing starts to make sense. South has picked up a sole point in three games against higher ranked opposition, but has made mincemeat of the competition’s lower half. Is it a flat track bully? It’s too early to tell. But if anything is set in stone, with Alicia Rowan and Jessie Barassi back on deck, no backline in the BASLW should feel at ease when facing the Southerners in 2021.

Shepparton United

Men: C

There’s no shirking the fact United’s 2-1-3 record is one coach Hussain Sumaili would not hope to own with the midway period approaching. But he’d be the first to admit injury has been at the heart of the Blues’ dormancy of late. Surviving a scare against last-placed La Trobe was crucial and further allaying United’s concerns is an upcoming three-week break through byes. It simply couldn’t have come at a better time. Forward weapons Ermal Marku and Roven Shaholli will be fit by the time the Blues return to the park in late June, while key midfielder Shah Mohammad Sharifi is expected to have healed from an arm breakage sustained in round five.

Women: B

Lurking two points outside the four, United isn’t enjoying usual real estate at the top which it became accustomed to throughout the past decade. Considering the complete shake-up of personnel, however, and there are plenty of positives to take away. They have stood up to the challenge posed by the competition heavyweights and, though results not have always favoured a young Blues line up, an exciting back half to the season seems on the cards. That and they’ve found their strike duo in Rezwana Baqiri and Maria Villani. Twenty-five combined goals, for those asking.

Tatura

Men: B

Tatura’s ladder position hardly flatters the Howley Oval mob. Though seventh, win both games in hand and the Ibises could soar as high as third. Squad retention has been major for Tristan Zito, who has assembled a carbon copy of the 2019 side which bowed out in semi-finals to take on the BASL post-COVID-19. After all, if it isn’t broken, why fix it? Adding Cooper Gosstray to the midfield stocks has been essential, as has Tim Lardner’s inclusion at centre half to shore up the side’s spine. Narrowly falling 1-0 to Strathdale, perhaps the league’s benchmark, was as comforting a loss as they come and if Tatura can keep injuries to a minimum going into finals there’s no reason why sights shouldn’t be set on the Super Cup again this year.

Women: C-

Realistically, getting girls on the park and playing with smiles on faces ranks higher above winning on Tatura’s current agenda. It’s about patience — which rebuilding phases require in spades. Often fielding less than 11 players in the past season, a larger group has enabled the Ibises to put out a full team each week this time around. And unsurprisingly, with that a more competitive edge has come. Surpassing its 2019 tally of two wins is more than doable; the side has already won one of its seven encounters. So, while 10th may not scream “success”, the red and white can keep their noses to the grindstone with a quiet sense of achievement.