THE 2019 campaigns of all nine of Southern Branch FC's team have come to an end, following strong Football NSW seasons on the pitch - in which all of the representative sides showed plenty of improvement.
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Their under 14s girls team finished in fifth place on the National Premier League Two ladder, with 13 wins, four draws and fives losses during their season - before Wayne Paton's side were eliminated by eventual premiers the Marconi Stallions 2-nil in the preliminary final.
During their standout campaign, Paton's group progressed each week and were unlucky not to have made it into the grand final.
"We were aiming to finish the season in fifth spot and play finals," Paton said.
"Finishing third overall was a great achievement for this team.
"Especially considering our trial numbers were not great, with us only having eight players at one stage.
"But we gained some players from club football and a number of SAP (Skill Acquisition Program) players came up to play - we were a very young team.
"All in all, they were a great bunch of girls who tried hard every minute they were out on the field.
"I couldn't be any prouder of this team and their efforts throughout the season to achieve what they did."
His squad featured Sophie King, Anna Simon, Beth Tomlinson, Kirra Jackson, Isabella Mconville, Jaya Bowman, Isabella Pinkard, Indigo Brindley, Ella Churchill, Rheya Luke, Jarrah Fuz, Emma Bennett, Maddison Harris, Isabelle Harris, Manny Kneeshaw and Gwen Eyland in 2019.
Unfortunately, Southern's under 15s side, coached by John Somerville, had a tougher season on the field, finishing in ninth with four wins, five draws and 13 losses.
While Luke Nolan's under 17s side, despite finishing in 10th - with four wins, four draws and 14 losses - showed significant improvement in 2019.
At the end of the 2018 season, this team finished bottom of the ladder in the under 17s competition and were suffering heavy defeats frequently - by margins of more than three goals.
Fast forward a year and these girls nearly tripled their points tally, scoring 11 more goals and conceding 25 less goals than in 2018 - a 36 goal improvement to their goal difference.
"The girls successfully achieved their goal of finishing outside of the bottom two," Nolan said.
"More importantly, the girls proved to the rest of the competition and themselves they have the quality to compete with any team in the competition.
"For this group of players, this was a huge step for their self-belief and confidence to consistently compete with teams that were hitting them for large scorelines one year earlier.
"More pleasing is the improvement to the overall style of play adopted by the girls.
"They not only won more games this season, they did it playing a brand of football that was enjoyable to watch."
Another women's team that pulled on the Southern Branch colours in 2019 was Peta Griffin's reserve grade women's side, who unfortunately lost all 20 of their matches, to finish the season in last.
While the first grade women's side, coached by Trevor Skingle, finished with three wins, one draw and 18 losses - to finish the campaign in 11th.
On the flip-side, the four male teams enjoyed mixed success in the blue and white this season.
The under 13 boys team, coached by Craig Ash, finished year in 13th, with seven wins, nine draws and nine losses to their names.
While Jonathan Wright's under 14 boys could only manage four wins, to go long with three draws and 18 losses - seeing them finish the campaign in 15th spot.
Matthew Cooper's under 15s didn't fair any better, only chalking up four wins from their 25 matches, to end the year in 16th spot.
Finally, Southern's under 16s team, led by Warren Lewiston, didn't record a victory all season (to go along with five draws and 18 losses), to finish in 17th spot on the table.