The Lilydale Eagles came together on Friday 12 September to celebrate the season that was in 2025 at the Crown Hotel in Lilydale.
The Seniors side finished in eighth place in Men’s Premier League Division Two with four wins, four draws, 10 losses and a goal difference of negative nine, reflective of a season where the Eagles weren’t often out of games but were unable to grind out results.
The Reserves had a strong campaign with 11 wins, three draws, four losses and a goal difference of 23, while they also were one of the sides to come closest to ruining Waverley City’s perfect season when they went down 2-1 due to an unfortunate own goal and deflection.
The first award of the night was up for grabs by any player across both sides but no player was clamouring for it: the Turkey of the Year award.
There was only one man who could possibly have taken it home on the night and that was the Reserves’ Marcus Salvitti for managing to miss eight of the 18 games of the season through suspension.
After receiving a red card and six-week ban for a reckless challenge, calling the ref a muppet and failing to leave the technical area, Salvitti returned late in the season against Croydon Ranges and picked up a yellow card for another cynical challenge.
Unbeknownst to him, this meant Salvitti had accumulated enough yellow cards for an automatic suspension, which is upgraded from the usual one game to two for having already been suspended during the season, ruling him out of the last two games of the season and making him a worthy winner of Turkey of the Year.
The Reserves awards were distributed next with the first player to receive recognition being top scorer Byron Loveless with 11 goals (as well as one well-taken goal in the Seniors). He was closely followed by Trent Scott-Elsley on 10 goals, who may well have rued his open goal miss early in the season.
The retiring Scott-Elsley would get his moment in the spotlight however when he was the clear winner of the team-voted Player’s Player award with 55 votes after a stellar final season playing across the front line and midfield.
It was a fellow winger in Tarin Cooper who would scoop up the Reserves Best and Fairest capping off a strong season where he scored seven goals, helped regularly in defence, won penalties (and missed one) and had goals stolen by Loveless all while providing a constant threat and outlet down the right-hand side.
Onto the Seniors and it was Ethan Emmett who took the top scorer gong with his eight strikes after a strong year playing up front or on the wing, a marked improvement from the only three goals required to top the scoring for the Seniors in 2024.
Captain Kaiden Deany-Smith was not far behind on seven after his switch from centre half to target man, and if not for a few early games still in defence and a few weddings ruling him out late in the season, he may have staked his claim for the golden boot.
Player’s Player went to Jasper Blair who amassed 41 votes in a season where he found himself playing up front, on the wing and in his preferred midfield slot at different stages. With great feet for a big lad, an increasing aerial threat from set pieces and strength in the duel, J Blair was a worthy winner.
The Best and Fairest award was handed to Eagles keeper Callum Ludwig, fulfilling the stereotype of recognising the man between the sticks after a season where the defence was under siege and perhaps also being recognised for playing across both the Reserves and Seniors sides all season and penning the weekly match reports for the Star Mail.
The final award of the night was the Clubman of the Year and it was reserved for the evergreen speed demon in the Reserves’ defence, Colin Dickson. Ironically unable to be present on the night, C Dickson has put in solid shifts at the back, filled the role of match official or linesman almost every week for the Seniors and is almost always among the first to arrive at home games and help with setting up for the day.
While there was no award, the entire club (as noted by Deany-Smith in a speech on the night) would also like to thank playing coach Daniel ‘Dicko’ Dickson for all his hard work both on and off the pitch to help ensure both sides could run as smoothly as possible despite numerous challenges.
