Lew's Predictions

There is a big weekend coming up for local soccer enthusiasts starting on Friday night with the Western Border Soccer Association Senior medal count/Presentation night and then the semi finals of the Shadows/Belgiornos Cup on Sunday, which sees Inter v Blue Lake at Webb St and Apollo v Millicent at Malseed Park.
Firstly we look at the medal count which is an extremely open affair this year with no clear favourite. Will the winner come from one of the more successful clubs or will a stand out player in a lower team take out the Camillo Gatto medal. The winner could come from the names below.
Dante Bonner, Adam Osman or Christian Cella from Inter.
Adam Hodge, Chris Bytheway or Ash Stenner from Apollo.
Matty Gordon, Jesse Wenham or Toby Kennet from Centrals.
Callum Ferguson, Bryce Strachan or Mitchell Thomson from Blue Lake
Matthew Gregetic or Cameron Saint from Millicent.
Matthew Weistra, Lance or Da Rocha from Sharks.
Kevin Marshall or Steve Mathie from Naracoorte
Stephen Arthur or Craig Taylor from Portland
It is interesting when you look at the individual club tips below.
Tony D’Agostino (Inter senior coach)
Winner – Dante Bonner. Runner up – Ash Stenner. Longshot Callum Ferguson

Shane Dycer (Centrals senior coach)
Winner – Callum Ferguson. Runner up – Matty Gordon. Longshot Chris Bytheway

Derek Ferguson (Apollo senior coach)
Winner – Callum Ferguson. Runner up – Marcus Morony. Longshot Adam Hodge

Sam Ferguson (Blue Lake senior coach)
Winner – Adam Osman. Runner up – Callum Ferguson. Longshot Matthew Gregetic

John Bruttomesso (Sharks Sports Director)
Winner – Callum Ferguson. Runner up – Christian Cella. Longshot Matty Weistra

Luke Gerritsen (Portland Veteran)
Winner – Dante Bonner. Runner up – Marcus Morony. Longshot Stephen Arthur

Amy Inglis (SEWFA President)
Winner – Chris Bytheway. Runner up – Tristan Guess. Longshot Tom Inglis

THE ROUND BALL

Winner - Callum Ferguson. Runner up - Adam Osman.Longshot Jesse Wenham

My tip is for Callum Ferguson to win it because he is always in the play and he does the spectacular things that the referees notice but also does the team things as well. Christian Cella has had some spectacular games and will poll a number of best on grounds and I expect him to be runner up. Chris Bytheway is my tip as a longshot. The three times that I have seen him play he has been excellent however he may have too many games in the seconds half of the season.

Now we look at the semi finals of the Shadows/Belgiornos Cup. The two games are very similar with Inter and Apollo being hot favourites to win against Blue Lake and Millicent respectively. The Inter Blue Lake clash is an interesting one with Blue Lake pushing Inter all year but not being able to get a win in three attempts. The last time they met was in the semi final of the top four and an undermanned Inter came away with a two nil victory. They could be undermanned again as I believe Adam Osman will be out due to suspension and Adam Craig nursing a hamstring strain from last weeks final against Apollo and I would be surprised if he plays. Inter will still be able to field a very strong side and should regain Marcus Morony from suspension. Inter will be trying hard to finish the season off in style by taking the cup out which would give them all three pieces of silverware in their 50th season. Add to this the fact that it is probably Tony D’Agostino’s last year as coach it would be a perfect finish to an extremely successful career. Standing in their way will be the young Blue Lake side desperate to get something out of a season where they have improved all year. They are still hurting from the last time when they believed that they should have been able to beat the undermanned Inter. Their biggest problem which I have mentioned many times before is their inability to score and with Brett Reid in top form in the Inter goals they may struggle again. I think that this will be the closest game of the two but I expect Inter to come out on top.
Apollo will still be seething from missing a golden opportunity last week and I can’t see them letting this game slip. They will be missing Marcus Wallace who was sent off last week but will probably replace him with Gavin Hancock who returns from suspension. Apollo played good soccer last week and if they play to that level they should account for Millicent who rely on too few to do too much. They have not played for nearly five weeks and finished the regular season with consecutive losses to Blue Lake and Centrals. On the up side they should have a full squad to pick from and it must be remembered that they drew with Apollo earlier in the season. If Millicent can hold Apollo out and frustrate them in the first half they will not be without a chance as they are able to keep running all day. I expect Apollo to have too much class all over the Park and will want to set up a repeat of last weeks final against Inter if they get over Blue Lake. Apollo to win.