James Murphy
THE boys in black and blue have reinstated themselves as the team to beat in the Steeline Limestone Coast Football Association (LCFA).
In a massive day of soccer, International claimed the early bragging rights at the men’s pre-season carnival hosted at Casadio Park on Sunday.
Over at Malseed Park the women’s carnival was also held on the day, which was deemed a success both on and off the field.
All proceeds from the two venues were donated towards the Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer Foundations, with an impressive sim raised.
“We raised I think around $5500 for our charities,” LCFA CEO Chris Fleetwood said.
Fleetwood was pleased with the outcome of the carnivals, which pushed for a more inclusive start to the soccer season than the previous pre-season format.
“I think having all the clubs together develops a really good culture amongst each other,” he said.
“On the field we are obviously very competitive, but off the field we need to be united as one.”
There was a good show of competition from both venues but for the men at Casadio Park it was the home team which emerged the victors.
International finished its five matches with four wins and a nil-all draw to Blue Lake.
A 1-0 win over eventual runner-up Gambier Centrals decided the result in the final match of the day in a fitting finish to the carnival.
Inter coach Vlada Gajic was pleased to come away with the overall win after putting in plenty of work into building a versatile playing list during the off-season.
“The biggest goal we had at the beginning of the season was to try and create depth within the squad to make sure we minimise any issues with Covid or anything moving forward,” he said.
“It was very important that we had a squad that could rotate and that was pretty much what we did (on Sunday).”
As such the Inter men’s team varied every time it took to the pitch on Sunday, with a full squad of 20 players rotated throughout the carnival.
“I mixed it up a fair bit – we had A Graders playing with Reserves,” Gajic said.
“Their understanding of what we are trying to achieve going forward was really good.”
After injuries plagued the side in 2021, Gajic said the focus has been on ensuring that does not hurt Inter’s season again.
“The whole idea is to gradually build momentum and intensity and when we get to that first game of the season we will all be ready to go, hopefully without any injuries,” he said.
All clubs will now turn their focus to Round 1 of the premiership cup, which will kick off after the Anzac Day long weekend, May 1.
With positive feedback from clubs and spectators on the day, Fleetwood looks forward to bringing the carnival format back bigger and better in 2023.
