Sport
17 April, 2026
Victory for Southwest juniors
FOOTBALL Southwest’s under 11 team has returned from the recent Bendigo Boys and Girls FC competition as champions of their division.
The under 11 boys, coached by Nathaneal Amartey and Michael Romanes, had their best team performance to date.
They turned up to the March 20-21 tournament hungry for the win and pushed themselves hard in the group stages.
They dominated their first two games, defeating Bendigo Yellow 4-2 and Sunraysia 4-0.
They then faced Shepparton United and played incredibly well against a side that had previously dominated the competition.
An unlucky penalty saw the game end in a 1-0 loss but progressed to the semi-finals.
There they recalibrated and defeated Bendigo Green 1-0, booking themselves a grand final berth (again against Shepparton United).
Football Southwest showed tenacity beyond what was expected of an under 11 side, playing with great sportsmanship, maturity and teamwork that saw them claw back from being 0-2 down at half-time, to win 4-2.
The team, and all others from Football Southwest, now starts its campaign towards Country Championships which will be held in Geelong from June 6-8.
In other results at the Bendigo tournament, Football Southwest’s under 15 girls’ team (coached by Eddie Dorris from Colac Otway) also qualified for the semi-finals despite having no bench for the majority of their matches.
The girls finished the semi-final against Williams Landing with a 2-all draw and then took part in a penalty shootout which went to 14-15 (with the win to Williams Landing).
The under 14 boys (coached by Scott Vincent) performed strongly in the group stage, accruing mixed results.
They were defeated by Boronia 1-0, defeated Mitchell 2-0, drew 1-1 with Bendigo and went down to Sunraysia 2-nil.
An unpredicted 2-nil loss to Mitchell saw Southwest finish outside finals contention.
The under 13 girls team (coached by Melissa Condo) also enjoyed a highly competitive weekend.
They held off the Darebin Falcons for a nil-all draw, lost 2-nil to Williams Landing, defeated Bendigo 2-1 and finished with a 1-1 draw with Barwon Heads to reach the semi-finals.
A rematch with Darbin in the semi-final saw them take the 1-0 win with a penalty.
The under 13 boys (coached by Warrnambool Rangers’ Janis Vingrys and Angelo Van Den Heuvel) dominated their group and closed their tournament with a strong semi-final performance.
With scores level at 1-1 at the end of regulation time, the match was decided by a penalty shootout; with Southwest defeated 8-7; the team’s performance under pressure a highlight of the event.
This was the third consecutive year Football Southwest has competed in the tournament; with the performance across all teams and divisions continuing to improve each year.
