“In one word: fantastic.” That is how Goran Josifovski feels right now.
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That is the feeling among the Queanbeyan City FC soccer team right now, following their most recent victory over the Brindabella Blues which secured the minor premiership.
“It was a vindication of all the work that was put in by the players and the club in general,” Josifovski added. “It was a really good feeling.”
Success was not guaranteed this season, particularly as the club and team went through a pre-season upheaval.
“We had a lot of changes within the club, [and] the playing swaud,” Josifovski said.
“We promoted a lot of younger players and we brought a lot of players in to support the existing base.
“We thought sixth spot, which is what we achieved last year, is what we should aim for [as a baseline target].
“We set some internal goals to make sure we’re challenging at the end of the year.”
It’s fair to say that, among a very tough field of competitors, the team has exceeded their initial goals.
“It’s been a very, very good competition, open competition,” Josifovski said.
“The top six teams in the competition are all very strong, they can all take points off each other.
“We didn’t know where we would end up until our final game.”
The secret to the team’s success, Josifovski said, was their commitment and focus on each match.
“We just took it a game at a time, we didn’t think too far ahead,” he said.
"It’s my first year as coach, and a lot of the players it’s their first year in Capital League.
“We don’t do anything different than the other sides, except that we work hard at training and hope that translates on the pitch.”
Leading into the finals, Josifovski had a stern message for Queanbeyan’s opponents.
“We respect all the top four teams, but I don’t think we fear any of them,” he said.
“The minor premiership is a measure of the most consistent team in the competition
“It’s a message to the rest of the competition that we’re respectful but we don’t fear anyone.”