Inter Lions roar to a third straight title
Winning an association championship back to back is no easy feat.
But the Inter Lions Open Men’s ‘A’ team have gone above and beyond all expectations, recording a stunning three-peat in the Canterbury District Soccer Football Association.
Last weekend, the Lions triumphed over Balmain DFC to claim the coveted Bill Brackenbury Cup for the third year running.
The game was a real arm wrestle, with Balmain dominating over the first quarter before Inter took control for the second half of the match, taking a 2-0 lead.
But a late Balmain goal threatened to turn the match on its head, the Inter Lions doing just enough to hold on for victory.
Lions Captain James Kovas took out the John Watkiss Medal for the most valuable player in the Grand Final, adding to the Golden Boot award he claimed as well.
Club Secretary Santino Grieco watched on from the sidelines, and is immensely proud of what the ‘A’ team have achieved over the past few seasons.
“They’ve been together almost five years now, they’ve won the last three here and before this they’ve been part of the Premier League comp and in a couple of other grand finals as well. They’re an outstanding team.”
The Inter Lions field multiple teams in the Men’s Open competition, highlighting the strength and depth of the club.
“Last year we had Inter Lions team finish first, second and fifth,” said Grieco.
“Over the last few years the ‘A’ side has been the best side, but the ‘B’ side has played twice in the Grand Final, so the club does dominate that competition.”
The Inter Lions club has a strong pedigree within the NPL competition as well, with team’s contesting the PS4 NPL NSW 3 Men’s and the PS4 NPL NSW 2 in 2016.
“Most of the ‘A’ team players are ex-State League players and could still compete at that level,” says Grieco. “But a lot of them have families now, they’ve been there and done that.”
But with age comes experience and the Inter Lions ‘A’ team has that in bucket loads. Their continued drive for improvement and success has given the rest of the club enormous belief in what they can achieve.
“The rest of the players at the club look up to them, they’re a pretty self-disciplined bunch,” says Grieco.
“They’ve represented us well, they’ve been role models for the kids. They have a great work ethic and they’re sort of our flagship association side for the Bill Brackenbury competition.”
The next assignment for the all-conquering Inter Lions ‘A’ side will be the Football NSW Champions of Champions tournament, which gets underway in a few weeks.
-By Harry Easton
