By ADEM SARICAOGLU
HOPPERS Crossing Soccer Club will be celebrating its first past players’ day next month against Corio, but there hasn’t been all that much to celebrate on the field this season.
The State League Four West club is languishing near the relegation zone after what has been a rollercoaster ride of a season to date.
Three early-season losses marked the departure of former coach Joey Vella, who was replaced by former VPL player Alfonso Opazo.
Under Opazo’s guidance Hoppers Crossing got its season back on track with an unbeaten five-game streak throughout June.
“Once I took over it more or less focused on trying to get some sort of consistency within games and training, because there were quite a few players not coming to training and things like that,” Opazo explained.“We tried to unite the group when I took over, and get a bit of fitness into the players because I felt that was a big factor.“The boys started giving a better effort after that, and then gradually we started getting our groove back, getting players back from injuries and then we went on that five-game unbeaten streak.”
However, through a series of more injuries and suspensions, Hoppers Crossing has since tailed off.
While at its best Opazo still believes his side is one of the better teams in the division, he admits its recent form is simply not good enough.
“Once we got into that five-game unbeaten run that we went on, the team was actually playing quite well,” Opazo said.“They were playing football the way I wanted them to play, but as of probably the last two weeks we’ve fallen into that trap again where maybe complacency’s got in, injuries have hit us at the wrong time again, as well as suspension.
“When we’ve got the full team out on the park we’ve done quite well and we’ve matched it with the better teams that are above us – but it’s been a bit of an up and down season, to be honest.”
Opazo would rather not think about relegation, instead re-focusing his expectations for the remainder of the season to finish as high as possible.
On 10 August, Hoppers Crossing will host division front-runner Corio at Grange Reserve, where the club will reflect back on 42 years of history.
