The Foxtel National Youth League 2013-14 season came to an end on Sunday with Melbourne Heart FC finishing on a high after a difficult start to the campaign.
The Foxtel National Youth League 2013-14 season came to an end on Sunday with Melbourne Heart FC finishing on a high after a difficult start to the campaign.
Joe Palatsides- men finished in fourth position after winning four of their final four games of the season, after only two wins in their opening nine fixtures.
“It was an interesting season,” Palatsides said. “We always believed we had a good bunch of players.
“We had a very difficult program early on with seven away games out of out first eight. That made it difficult for us with a lot of travelling involved and I think a lot of the players just weren-t used to it.
“We hit a bit of a bad patch in-between but we-ve really come home strong and the players have played the football we-ve expected them to and it all came together towards the end.
“It was very pleasing at the end of the year to see the boys perform in this manner.”
Click play on the video below to watch the full interview with FNYL coach Joe Palatsides
The NYL side virtually mirrored the senior side in regards to their change of fortunes, with nine of the games played in 2014 finishing in six wins, two draws and only one loss.
There was no shortage of goals either in the remaining matches of the season, with Melbourne Heart scoring 24 goals in their last four fixtures at Epping Stadium.
Palatsides and the entire FNYL staff worked incredibly hard to overturn the side-s fortunes and that was confirmed when a number of youth players made the jump to the senior side.
One of those players was FNYL captain Ross Archibald, who made his A-League debut on the weekend in the 4-0 Melbourne Derby win.
“It-s good to see we-ve got that flow of players from the youth team to the senior team,” Palatsides said.
“We-re hoping it continues in the same manner and it-s been an exciting two years that I-ve been involved with them that we-ve been able to promote that many kids to the senior team.
“Hopefully we-ll continue the trend and hopefully these boys this year can play some role in the senior team towards the end of the year.”
