“The last few minutes I will never forget,” told Kingston City’s man-of-the-moment Damian Iaconis.
“I just remember the mood was so flat, I had some of our fans yelling out telling me that the Thunder had won. It definitely hurt but they were nothing but positive towards all of us.
“We had pretty much all of the ball the last 10 minutes and I knew that I needed to keep getting into good positions and eventually something would happen.”
The scene was set at Dunstan Reserve against Brunswick City, where it looked for all money like Kingston City had thrown away their chance at promotion, after working so hard to get into a position in which their destiny was in their own hands. For so long throughout 2016, they had played the role of chaser to runaway leaders Thunder, with their crosstown rivals Dandenong City providing ample competition for a top-two berth.
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Keeping pace and falling away
By Round 15, the Thunder were still to drop a point, bar their three point deduction for fielding the ineligible Amir Osmancevic in the opening game week. Kingston sat just four points behind with their only loss coming at the hands of the ladder-leaders.
They slipped six points behind Dandenong by Round 19 after they posted two consecutive losses against Whittlesea Ranges and Eastern Lions, which had the second-placed Kingston also looking behind them as Dandy City threatened to close in from third. An away win against Springvale White Eagles the next round arrested the slide and offered enough of a shock to the system to re-align their focuses on claiming the title.
“We had two unexpected defeats at home which did bring us back behind the 8-ball, but nothing changed during those couple of weeks at training,” Iaconis said on that tough two-week period.
“The boys were still up beat and positive and Nick [Tolios] and Billy [Theo] still went about their business as they did the whole season. Tolsy stayed positive no matter what happened and I believe that’s what kept us going.”
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Storming home with a vengeance
A stretch of five straight wins stemming from their triumph at White Eagles Stadium saw them finally draw level with a Thunder outfit who had uncharacteristically begun to drop points with startling regularity. However a slip-up against St Albans Saints saw them fall behind by an even three points once again heading into their third final game of the regular season. It was the game that’d been penciled into calendars months prior; Dandenong Thunder versus Kingston City.
Head coach Nick Tolios and assistant Billy Theo said it was just another game, the players knew otherwise. Iaconis was injured for that Round 25 fixture, as he was the week after against Goulburn Valley Suns, but despite not playing, he still recognised the importance of the game and rode the wave of emotions on the sidelines with his teammates on the pitch.
“To all of us as a squad and as a club, that game against Thunder was reiterated by the coaches as just another game where we set out to get three points like we had done all season,” he said.
“Although as you could imagine, it wasn’t just another ordinary game, we treated this as a Grand Final, it was do or die. We couldn’t have been happier at how we got the three points away from home against the top team all year, and being in the dressing rooms after that game, a sense of shock hit us all, we were then equal on points with them.”
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Power trades hands
Round 27 saw the title twist its hand once more as Thunder capitulated to a 4-1 loss to Eastern Lions, while Kingston accounted for the Suns courtesy of a goal to Czech midfielder Zdenek Koukal. For the first time all season, Kingston were in firm control as they carried a three point lead into the final game of the season against Brunswick City.
“I’ll be honest, [that week] there was a lot of excitement and far-fetched statements about us winning the league and what we were going to do when it happened, which were all being thrown about at training,” Iaconis said.
“But we all knew what needed to be done and what was expected of us. From chasing Thunder the whole season to now the pressure being on us to perform it was a completely different feeling.”
However in a season of constant twists and turns at the top, there were two more junctions ahead in the road to promotion. At George Andrews Reserve, Dandenong Thunder – and their superior goal difference – were wrapping up a 2-0 home win over Springvale White Eagles. At Dunstan Reserve, Juan Portillo had put Brunswick into a 1-0 lead over Kingston as the game wore on into its dying embers.
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Going a header the pack
It was the fifth minute of stoppage time and the equation was simple. Facing a one-goal deficit knowing a draw would be enough to once again leapfrog Dandenong Thunder, a goal would seal promotion for the modest club from the South-East Suburbs.
Iaconis told of how he thought something would eventually happen; so it proved as the young forward marauded into the box and posted himself on the far right-hand post at Dunstan Reserve. In came a cross from George Stavridis and the rest was history.
“As George’s cross flew over everyone’s head and fell to Nick Stamatiou, I only had one thought and that was to get on the end of the cross,” he recalled.
“I’m sure if you look at some photos captured and the video it indicates how relieved I was when it went in, I felt like I had just lifted every bit of pressure off the team and all our hard work had paid off. Every single one of the boys never dropped their heads either, we all stayed positive and put everything we had into finding a goal which we have done all season.
“I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m sure I can vouch for most of us boys that we are still in celebration mode and soaking up whatever we can because these moments don’t come around very often.
“I feel it’s important to enjoy them while they’re around. Although no doubt about it, we have our sights set on Sunday’s Grand Final at Lakeside Stadium which is a massive game for us as a club.”
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A close-knit group
The goal was just desserts for a club that just didn’t know when to throw in the towel and proved a fitting end to a league season that was anything but predictable. The success may have come as a surprise to many – purely on the basis of the circumstances in which it occurred – but those closer to the scene, they’d have seen the spirit and camaraderie that paved the way for their deserved success.
“I don’t think I’ve ever played in a team over the years that has been as close on and off the field that we have been this year,” he said.
“Right from the President, to the committee, coaching staff and even those who come watch our games, it feels like we are all one big family and it’s a great club to a part of. All this has an impact on how much we enjoy playing for the club and for one another, which obviously impacts our performances on the weekend.
“Nick Tolios and Billy have probably been the biggest impact on all of us as a team and how we have connected. On the field they are our coaches and that’s the way we treat them but off the field I could honestly say they are like our mates in a massive friendship group.
“From all our pre-season running down at Frankston, to the pre-season friendlies I knew that we had a good bunch of boys and a team that would push for promotion. I think we do have to give plenty of credit to Nick and Billy for the squad that they put together because without the full squad of 20 players, we wouldn’t have gotten to where we are now.
“Every single player in the squad had an impact on what we have achieved and I think we all deserve what we get out of this.”
While the club has every right to celebrate and enjoy themselves – as the boys did with a Saturday night out labelled worthy of a “whole article” of its own – there is one more task ahead of them for the 2016 season. The NPL2 Grand Final against West conference winners St Albans Saints takes place on Sunday afternoon at Lakeside Stadium, which serves as one final final chance to win silverware.
The result of that fixture however won’t carry anywhere near the same importance as their 28 prior league fixtures which weaved an intricately entangled, exhilaratingly twisted and often nail-biting journey towards glory, encapsulated perfectly in one triumphant moment, by one exuberant forward.
All photos: Kingston City