St. Albans Saints – Colina Pleased with Hard Work

Josip LONCARIC

After starting with a clean slate following the clubs relegation to State League One, St. Albans Saints coach Micky Colina is delighted with the work put in by his new troops so far this season.

Action from the Fawkner game on Thursday    Photos

The former player and club legend has been putting the team through a vigorous schedule in the past four weeks, and despite the hardship, he insists that his players are doing well.

“The vibe and atmosphere at the club is great. Everyone has been working hard to get the kilometres into their legs and prepare their body, and now we are working more on structure and ball work”, Colina said during the week.

After last season’s capitulation, the majority of the player squad from the successful 2009 and 2010 team has left the club, and Colina has been busy looking at new players to fill the void. So far the club has confirmed the signing of nine players, with a few more still on the cards in the coming weeks.

“We have signed Damir Salcin, Hrvoje Matkovic, Marko Kuna, Goran Kuna and Stefan Piorkowski, all of which are experienced players. Added to this list we have youngsters Stefan Jesensek and Michael Grgic, who were both part of the club last year, and also Filip Vulic and Daniel Sweeney from the Melbourne Knights youth team”, Colina explained.

With the toughest part of pre-season over, Colina is also looking to add game time to his team so that they can familiarise themselves with his own game style.

“It’s still early days, but we need to start putting into place the game plan that we need to be successful and with some upcoming friendly games, this gives us a chance to do just that”, he said.

The club’s first meaningful hit out was on Thursday 9th of February against the Fawkner Blues, which ended in a 1-0 win for the Saints. This weekend at the inaugural Brimbank Cup, held in Sydenham. Following this, Colina will be testing his side against Sydenham Park, before embarking on some matches with Premier League opposition.

For more information regarding the pre-season program, visit the clubs website www.stalbanssaints.com

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Josip Loncaric

Editorial Assistant/Journalist
Croatian Herald Australia
Ph: 0425 782 105
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