Frankston Pines in jubilant mood after clinching promotion to the State Leagues on Saturday.  credit:

Miracle in progress at Frankston Pines

24.09.2012

Frankston bounce back to State League Three South-East.

Craig MacKenzie

Frankston Pines has emphatically silenced its critics by clinching a second-placed finish and promotion from Provisional League One South East.

Saturday’s 2-0 win away to already relegated Hampton Park United gave Danny Verdun’s men a one-point margin over third-placed Sandringham and catapulted the side back into State League ranks for season 2013.

To describe Pines’ achievement as remarkable misses the mark. Miraculous is more apt.

When the club’s freefall down the leagues continued in 2011 with a fourth straight relegation many football followers believed that Pines would fold.

Its large five-figure debt was no secret and its reputation on and off the field was in tatters.

Enter Gary Hodgson and a group of brave souls who believed they could make a difference.

Hodgson took over as president last October and his new committee set about steering a path through a financial maelstrom and organising schemes of repayment with creditors.

But on-field problems also had to be addressed and the committee made what proved to be a masterstroke when it appointed ex-Knox mentor Danny Verdun as senior coach last November.

Karl Erdeg was made reserves coach and Verdun hired Nick Atsiaris as team manager maintaining a bond that started with the Knox under-13s.

Verdun was unable to conduct a proper pre-season as he didn’t have enough players and the club’s lingering reputation for falling short on promises made to players was a huge hurdle to overcome.

Verdun is not large in stature but he is a giant in terms of determination and his persistence and man-management skills enabled him to attract former players from Knox and further afield as he methodically pieced together a senior squad for the start of the season.

Verdun’s mantra back then was that the first five or six games were akin to the pre-season his players never had and how right he proved to be.

After Pines’ 2-0 home loss to Riversdale in round five the team had won one game and lost four and was fourth-last with a minus five goal difference.

Outsiders nodded knowingly and believed the team’s 2012 fate was sealed.

But Verdun and his players were about to embark on an amazing 14-game unbeaten run and were to lose just one more game in a stunning turnaround that ended in glory on Saturday.

It took a moment of magic from Pines’ outstanding central defender Anthony Edgar in the 30th minute to break the deadlock against Hampton Park United.

He surged out of defence then waltzed past three opponents before breaking clear into a one-on-one with makeshift Hampton keeper Denis Mason, who brought down Edgar.

The ball broke loose and Ross Wallis tucked it away and although there was confusion as to whether or not a penalty had been awarded the goal stood.

Livewire Pines striker “CJ” Hodgson put the contest out of reach nine minutes into the second stanza when the home defence failed to cut out a Nick Giannopoulos pass and Hodgson blasted the ball into the roof of the net from close range to make it 2-0.

His father and club president gazed on appreciatively but for much of the afternoon Hodgson senior kept his own counsel watching expectantly and doubtless nervously as proceedings unfolded.

When referee Terry Bywater blew the final whistle it was the signal for Pines players, coaching staff, committee and supporters to mass in the centre of the ground as videographer Steve Gray and photographer Darryl Kennedy captured scenes of delight that had long deserted the club.