Sante Donadel has led Yoogali through a tough campaign in the 2022 season of the Capital Premier League (CPL), but the coach is still proud of his side.

After losing their three starting forwards at the start of the season, Donadel has had to fill his first-grade side with reserve players through most of the season.

“This season we have competed well,” Donadel said. “We are just missing a couple of quality players, but I think the boys play well week in, week out.

“We play most games 80% well, and it’s that 20% that kills us most games, but we lost our three main forwards from last year, so we have a lot of young blokes playing.

“But they will learn, and they will get better, and hopefully for the rest of the season, we continue to perform and win some games.”

The main challenge for Donadel this season has been that lack of lethal quality in the final third.

“When you are scoring goals, everything is good,” Donadel said. “Week in week out, we are just not scoring goals, and it outs pressure on our back line.

“Every team gets chances and unfortunately we don’t put ours away and the other team does which is our main challenge right now.”

Travelling short distances is something that most CPL sides take for granted, but for both Yoogali sides, the trip to Canberra is becoming a well-known route.

“We just got off a three-week stint in a row to Canberra, but both squads were in good moods. It hasn’t affected the 23’s who are currently sitting in the top four in their competition.”

In the most recent fixture, Yoogali took on Tuggeranong FC who sit in first place. While the first-grade side lost 3-0, the 23’s side managed to continue their form and secure a win.

With the end of the season approaching and finals with it, Donadel will give a bit more focus to the 23’s who are competing in the top four.

“The 23’s are doing well,” Donadel said. “I think it is a little late for the first grade to make the top four obviously. So, we will concentrate on the 23’s, half our first-grade squad is our 23’s so we will concentrate on them. They are learning every week as well.”

As Donadel’s first grade side will miss out on making finals, he is hoping that his side can finish in the middle and pick up more wins in the final few rounds.

“Our main goal for the rest of the season is to win more games, and score more goals, and hopefully finish in the middle of the table.”

Words: Matthew Williams