James Murphy
SUNDAY welcomed the first look at Limestone Coast soccer for 2023 with the second annual pre-season cup carnival hosted at Casadio Park.
A total of 20 games were played across the two pitches with both the men and women fighting for bragging rights prior to the premiership season launch next week.
The men’s competition unsurprisingly had International and Gambier Centrals as the teams to beat, with the former claiming the honours in the final game of the day.
That was played against Centrals, with the two sides undefeated up to that point.
A 1-0 win secured the win for the boys in black and blue after a hard-fought battle.
The women’s carnival was contested on Pitch 2, with Apollo coming out on top.
The club fielded two teams on the day due to a large player selection, with the winning team progressing through undefeated.
Blue Lake finished runner-up, with its only loss coming to Gambier Centrals.
Centrals rounded out the top three with two wins, while Inter, Apollo’s second side and Millicent filled the minor placings.
The men’s competition showed a relatively even spread with the strength of Blue Lake and Millicent in particular showing promise for the year ahead.
International men’s coach Tony D’Agostino was pleased with the outcome of the day.
“A carnival like Sunday gives you a good opportunity to look at the other teams,” he said.
“I was pleasantly surprised at how strong the competition will be this year.
“We went through very strongly defensively, without conceding a goal all day.”
Blue Lake appears to have picked up some talent and the Rangers finished the carnival in third with two wins and two losses.
They were followed by Apollo and Millicent, who despite strong efforts were winless for the day after their meeting resulted in a draw.
Plenty of talent was on show and the carnival provided an opportunity for teams to experiment with different combinations and tactics in the shortened 15-minute halves.
For D’Agostino that provided a chance to see more of Inter’s young talent perform on the senior stage.
“I am really pleased with some of the young kids we are starting to see develop,” he said.
“I was really pleased with Seth Michielan.
“I thought he played outstandingly in the games we were able to give him some game time.
“Another kid who has taken massive steps is Henry Haywood and he will be an integral part of our team this year.
“His brother Ned will also have a big input into our season.”
Complementing the youth, the experience of Christian Cella stood out.
“He played well and had an influence in every game he played,” D’Agostino said.
“Another guy I relied on a lot on the day was Tyler Michielan.
“I was really impressed to see the level he is at.”
All clubs will now look forward to the start of the 2023 premiership seasons, which start with an Anzac Day clash between Inter and Centrals men’s and women’s teams.
The remainder of Round 1 will be played over April 29-30.
