Image: Australian Sporting Photos
Dandenong City have made NPL2 Championship-winning defender Luke Eyles their eighth signing of the off-season while also confirming the departure of their longest-standing servant Dario Matkovic.
19-year-old Eyles moves to Frank Holohan Soccer Complex having spent half a season with Kingston City, which he helped win promotion to the top-flight.
The left-back made nine league appearances under Nick Tolios, including starts against Brunswick City and St Albans in season-defining fixtures.
Originally from Tasmania, the promising teen made his senior breakthrough with Hobart Olympia, helping the club win the 2015 NPL Championship in the Apple Isle.
His impressive form caught the eye of South Melbourne, agreeing terms with the youngster who arrived at Lakeside Stadium in late 2015 after helping Olympia defeat South in the NPL Finals Series.
Starved of first-team opportunities in Chris Taylor’s star-studded squad, Eyles made the mid-season move to the Grange Reserve, where he overcame injury troubles to play his part in City’s promotion.
He joins Mate Dugandzic, Steven Topalovic, James and Shaun Kelly, Paul Harvey, David Stirton and Nick Kalmar as new additions to Stuart Munro’s playing squad ahead of the upcoming NPL2 season.
As one player enters the Hajduk dressing room, another exits, with City confirming the departure of homegrown midfielder Dario Matkovic who has announced his retirement.
A Chelsea junior who also featured in the youth setup of Box Hill Inter, Matkovic made the move across the Westgate and joined childhood club Melbourne Knights.
He eventually made his debut for the first-team in 2003 and featured four times in the National Soccer League before becoming one of the Knights’ key players in their return to the VPL.
A mysterious illness kept him out of action for the majority of the 2007 season before making his return in 2008 as Chris Taylor’s men lost the Grand Final to the Altona Magic.
In total he made 73 league appears for the Knights, scoring 12 goals before making the move to the Oakleigh Cannons the following season, where he made a further 16 league appearances.
A return to Dandenong City followed, with Matkovic instrumental in Hajduk’s promotion to the second tier in 2011 as Joe Biskic’s men claimed the State League Two South-East title ahead of Box Hill United.
A regular starter for the club over the course of the last seven years, Matkovic scored 43 league goals for the club while also tallying up nearly 150 league appearances.
A goalscoring midfielder, he won the club Golden Boot in the 2014 NPL2 campaign under Ivan Duzel when netting 12 times in the league, and scored a further eight goals each in the two respective seasons under Aaron Healey.
The 31-year-old has called time on his playing career, which saw him spend six and seven years at Melbourne Knights and Dandenong City respectively, as well as a year with the Cannons in 2009.
Dandenong City open their 2017 NPL2 campaign with an away trip to local rivals Dandenong Thunder in the season opener on February 3, with the two clubs also battling it out for the Jim Memeti Cup.