FC Bulleen Lions head coach Domenic Barba says he won’t revel in the glory of this season for too long, already making plans for life in the NPL Victoria despite his side only securing the NPL 1 West title, and with it promotion, on the weekend.
A dogged performance against the chasing Ballarat Red Devils saw them grind out a 2-0 result, with only an injury-time goal to Dean Lorenzi sealing the result.
The win puts them an unassailable seven points ahead of next best Moreland Zebras with one round remaining, in a stellar season that saw them lose just four games, winning 17 and drawing six.
The coach said that for him personally it was a great achievement, but the aim now is to consolidate their position in the top flight.
“It’s been fantastic, because some time ago I was fortunate enough to win one with the [Moreland] Zebras, and to do it a second time, [I’m] just rapped that I got the opportunity,” Barba said.
“I’ll start thinking about [next season] on Monday, to be honest with you. I mean we can’t leave our planning too late.
“We need to consolidate, we need to be really competitive, [and] make sure that we finish – we’d like to think – around about mid-table.”
Full photo gallery courtesy of Matt Johnson here.
The head coach has praised the playing roster that earned promotion this season, singling out their their determination as a telling factor for their success.
“There’s nothing that they can’t do, nothing they’re not willing to do, and that’s what it takes to be a championship team,” he said.
Barba lauded his side’s effort against Ballarat, noting that the game was never going to be a free-flowing contest with both sides fully aware of what was at stake.
“We knew they were going to come out hard and they made it a little bit difficult for us at times. But we were able to cope and adjust, and that’s the flexibility of this team.”
As for next season, the coach knows that there will be plenty of work ahead, but that doesn’t mean he believes Bulleen can’t enjoy success again next year.
“We’ve got some work to do, because the NPL is a big, big, big jump”
“[But] how long is a piece of string?…If these boys are up for it, they can go as far as they want.”