Soccer
Skye United gaffer Phil McGuinness had no doubts about handing the captaincy to a player who had only been at the club for one season.
“He trains how he plays, he hates to lose and is very, very competitive,” McGuinness said. “He never misses a training session and although there were a few older boys in the running he just ticked all the boxes.”
He’s talking about Ben Lund, who took over from club icon Marcus Collier last November after the latter left. And 23-year-old Lund rubber-stamped the coach’s decision by leading his men to promotion from State 2 South-East.
“I think we surprised a few people,” Lund said. “The standard premise is that the more you pay the more results you get but part of what made this year so sweet is that we did it on one of the smallest if not the smallest budgets in the comp.
“We had an underdog status throughout the year and I think that galvanised the boys because no-one else thought we could do anything, but internally we didn’t accept that.”
Player turnover at Skye in the past two seasons has been extensive and last pre-season the early focus was on assessing the many new players trying to win a spot in the senior squad.
“We had no idea what the team would look like with so many players trying out,” Lund said. “It was really hard to work out which players would be playing let alone whether we’d be any good or not.
“Not that I’m big on pre-season being much of a guide anyway. “If you look at the previous year we did alright pre-season but ended up battling to avoid relegation, and this year we were pretty average pre-season but results went our way.
“After we beat (eventual champion) St Kilda to go four wins and one loss in the first five rounds it started to look different from a flukey hot streak. “It’s certainly in the back of your mind that we’re competitive here and we might have a chance of doing something.”
Lund has only been in Australia since 2021 but has enjoyed two promotions already. When the New Zealander arrived in Melbourne he played out the COVID-interrupted season with Eastern Lions’ under-21s.
His switch to Beaumaris was an astute move and he was part of the club’s State 1 championship side. “Although I didn’t start many games and had lots of bench minutes it was really cool to be part of that Beauy side.” At Beaumaris he’d met Kevin “Squizzy” Taylor, an assistant coach, and when Taylor returned to Frankston Pines Lund wasn’t far behind.
Although he achieved his personal goal of getting more game time he was part of a Pines side that struggled throughout the season and eventually was relegated from State 2 South-East. “I was living in Frankston and Skye was one of the closest clubs. “I’d heard from ‘Squizzy’ and others that Skye was a decent club so I got in touch with Phil and went down to training. “I enjoyed myself and could see me getting game time there which swayed me to sign for Skye.”
Lund made 19 appearances for Skye last year and 21 this year. “I’m most definitely staying at Skye.
“The culture there is second to none. “They are a really close playing group and the expectation when you join is that you’ve become part of the Skye family. “I noticed that quite early and it’s something I’ve really enjoyed.”
Lund and his teammates will have a demanding pre-season given their coach’s eagerness to produce one of the fittest teams in the league. Pre-season starts on Tuesday 18 November.
McGuinness had been keeping that under wraps as he wanted his players to be given time to enjoy their achievement this year.
It’s likely that the club again will base much of its pre-season at Carrum Downs Recreation Reserve, as McGuinness believes that the synthetic surface there “can be tough on the body especially when it’s hot,” which helps players build a strong fitness base.
“I’m expecting an intense pre-season as there is a significant difference between State 1 and State 2,” Lund said. “You have to think and act quicker but I’m expecting that we’ll have plenty of game time pre-season so we’re not playing catch-up when the league starts.
“Within the club we’ll aim for as high as we can. “I think we’ll be a very competitive team and I personally believe that we’ll win a lot of games.”
Meanwhile, despite dropping down two tiers to the new State 6 South-East next year, the Frankston Pines story is one of remarkable resilience and success.
Late last year the previous committee couldn’t get out of the door quickly enough, dumping a financial basket case and on-field collapse into the laps of new president Liz Diaz, club secretary Tanya Wood, and treasurer Sarah Silberer.
“When we took on the club back in November 2024 we faced some serious challenges,” Diaz said.
“We had just $400 in the bank, five Mini Roo teams, no junior team or senior team and over $60,000 in club debt. “Fast forward to today and I could not be prouder of what we’ve been able to achieve.”
Pines now has eight Mini Roo teams, a junior team, senior men’s and women’s teams, and has paid off more than 50 percent of its debt.
“This turnaround is nothing short of incredible and a testament to the hard work, passion, and commitment of our volunteers, players, families, and wider community,” Diaz added. “This year was the year of the rebuild, arguably the toughest in the club’s 60-year history.
“Next year our focus will shift to building structure, support systems, and long-term stability across all programs.”
Last weekend there was a large turnout at the club’s presentation night.
Goalkeeper Caleb Parr won the coach’s award, the Golden Glove award and was runner-up in the Players’ Player award which featured joint winners in Ali Khan and Aloysio Ferreira. Davey Jones won the Golden Boot award.
The senior women’s best and fairest was Sarah Waterland, Players’ Player of the Year was Marcelina Tombra, and Rachael Cannon was runner-up. The women’s Golden Boot winner was Maggie Salloum.
