Kalangadoo only MSEFL club confirmed for 2020 combined football competition

Stone Mules   TBW Newsgroup
BACK IN ACTION: Kalangdoo Football Club is celebrating after confirmation it will take its place in the new Limestone Coast combined men's football competition which is set to kick off on July 18.

Stone Mules TBW Newsgroup
BACK IN ACTION: Kalangdoo Football Club is celebrating after confirmation it will take its place in the new Limestone Coast combined men’s football competition which is set to kick off on July 18.

KALANGADOO has confirmed it will be a starter in the upcoming Limestone Coast combined men’s football competition for 2020, after the finer details regarding the junior Magpies was ironed out this week.

The young teams will play in the Mid South Eastern Football League competition, but will join the seniors for home games which have been scheduled to suit the new senior competition involving teams from the Mid South East, Western Border and Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara leagues.

It provides a full day of football for Kalangadoo supporters to enjoy once everything kicks off this month.

At this stage Kalangadoo will join North Gambier, East Gambier and South Gambier from the WBFL, plus Mundulla and Kybybolite from the KNTFL.

In an interesting twist all three premiers from each league will compete – Kalangadoo, North Gambier and Mundulla – which should provide an exciting spectacle.

However, one sticking point has arisen for the Magpies, with coach Dylan Ayton and a couple of other Victorians unable to cross the border at this stage, after a new clause was added to the border restrictions last week.

But new online applications have been made available, which Ayton said were filled out smartly, with the hope to be included in the South Australian competition.

Ayton said it was an exciting development to have the juniors at home on game days in the modified season.

“We pushed really hard and were not going to go without the juniors,” he said.

“Now we have our juniors playing before us in our home games, so we will have a full day of footy, which will be really exciting for us.”

Overall Ayton said the club is excited about the opportunities for the senior sides this year.

“It has been hard the last week to keep the boys believing we were a fair dinkum chance to play,” he said.

“Our president Adam Box let them know at training on Tuesday night and we are all excited.”

Ayton said he looked forward to the chance to pit his side against the WBFL and KNTFL teams.

“We are flying, we are really happy and we are really excited,” he said.

“We have a really good group together and we could have a couple of extra players in the mix.

“But we are comfortable with what we have now.

“We are coming off a flag and I know people say the Mid South East is a level below, but we are looking pretty good.

“I have not been involved with the Mid South East competition yet, just purely with Kalangadoo, but they are the most committed group of boys I have ever been involved with.

“They are unbelievably fit with the running and the effort they have put in over the break.

“I still can not believe the buy-in from this bunch.”

Kalangadoo will be the sole representative from the MSEFL in the new competition.

With that comes a certain amount of pressure to perform.

Ayton said the subject had been mentioned at training and he was confident his side could stand up and be competitive.

“We want to put on a good show,” he said.

“We feel we are representing the Mid South East and we know if we go there and do not show anything, what people say about the Mid South East could last for a long time.

“If we go there and show we do structure up and we are committed to what we do, we hope to change the mind set of what a lot of people think.”

The changes to the border restrictions may effect the final make up of the Magpies side, but again Ayton was confident everything would go to plan.

“We are not worried,” he said.

“Worst case scenario is I cannot play, but I do not think that will happen.

“If I do not get over, I am confident in the group.

“Everything we have worked on has been positive and there is a really good culture there.

“We have every contingency plan covered.

“Even it that does happen, we have Ben and Chris Mules – I know they are a bit older, but you are pretty lucky to have those two in there.

“We have a premiership coach from last year still at the club.

“Harry Peacock has been involved the whole time as a bench coach.

“They all talk to me on a daily basis and everything is under control so there is no panic at all.”

The combined competition is expected to kick off on July 18, with the final draw due out in the coming days, with the final deadline for team acceptances today.