James Murphy
The hard work by the Millicent United Soccer Club was recognised at the recent Limestone Coast Football Association presentation night.
Millicent was named as Club of the Year for the 2022 season, a credit to its efforts on and off the field.
For joint Millicent Soccer Club president Ian Lines, the achievement came as the reward from years of dedication from the club and its members.
“The club has put in a lot of hard work in the last five or six years,” he said.
“This is just another step towards building the club to the strength it used to be.
“We have been trying to build with our juniors and also importantly trying to build the right culture within our club.”
While the senior grades struggled to post results throughout 2022, the juniors flourished and both the Under 16 girls and Under 12 boys earned premiership glory.
“We are very proud of our Under 12 boys and Under 16 girls,” Lines said.
The Under 12 boys had a dominant year and finished the home-and-away season as minor premiers, before a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Gambier Centrals in the grand final.
It was a drought-breaking performance for the team, as it claimed Millicent’s first premiership in the men’s competition since 1997.
In fact, coach of the team Mathew Grgetic had played in the club’s last premiership himself as an Under 14.
In a fitting turn of events, his son Tait Grgetic was named best-on-ground for the game.
The two were also recognised at the LCFA presentation night, with Mathew named as junior coach of the year, while Tait finished joint best and fairest for the Under 12 boys.
Millicent’s Will Dower also featured highly to be named runner-up in the grade.
It was another fairytale finish for the Under 16 girls, who finished the minor rounds in fourth place.
They then won consecutive finals to book themselves a place in the decider, where a penalty shootout was required for them to knock over minor premier Gambier Centrals in the upset of the year.
After a strong season, Millicent captain Lana Shepherd was awarded the Under 16 girls best and fairest trophy at the league presentations.
Lines now looks forward to continued success in 2023 and beyond, as the club continues to build towards regaining its former glory.
“We still have a ways to go, but these are positive steps,” he said.
As a celebration of the amalgamation of the men’s and women’s teams, Millicent will be seen in brand new playing strips next year as the club looks to push its successes even further.
