Eagles eye a quick rise
Match fitness a focus after good showings early
DANIEL Cuccinotta has endured a baptism of fire in his coaching role at Golden Plains.
After the first two rounds of the State League 4 season, the Bannockburn-based Eagles are entrenched at the foot of the table, having lost both games in convincing fashion.
Losing new coach Ahmad Sulaimi on the eve of the season, the Eagles turned to Cuc- cinotta to fill the role after he was forced out with seasonending knee injuries.
The mild-mannered rookie coach, however, is not too fazed by the seemingly daunting task of having to effectively rebuild a senior team squad.
“It’s certainly not a reason to hit the panic button just yet. We are actually playing very good football for the first 35-40 minutes, but then we seem to burn out,” he said.
“Our main focus over the coming weeks will be to get our (match) fitness up and to jell as a team, as most of the boys have never played together and they all had a very limited pre-season.”
Although it is early days, Cuccinotta was quick to point out the Eagles’ opening fixtures had been against the current top two sides.
“We lost to the Western Eagles 3-0 in the opener and last Saturday — even though we eventually went down to Truganina Hornets 5-1 — we scored the opener through Anthony (Tavic) and dominated for most of the first 30 minutes,” he said
Tavic is a pacy striker who forms part of a strong backbone, with keeper Ken Gerohristodoulou, central defender Zac Clayton-Marsh, defensive midfielder Anthony Sirocuk and central midfielder Michael Radojevic.
“The foundations are there and if we can attract another 2-3 quality players to the club, I think we will do well as the season progresses,” an optimistic Cuccinotta said.
Tomorrow Golden Plains goes to Laverton Park Reserve to take on Laverton FC, which has two draws from its opening fixtures.
Cuccinotta and his troops will be hoping to hit the home side early, then maintain the pressure and return home with the full bounty of three invaluable competition points.