THE Dunsborough Towners will open their Premier league football season facing Margaret River on Sunday in Margaret River with hopes high for a good season.
The Towners pre season was a mixed bag as new player coach Chris Blackburn assessed the players at his command both new and established.
While Blackburn, a former English professional is a key to Dunsborough’s fortunes, match management on the day will be left to Tony Wilkinson
They suffered a setback in the first round of the Pioneer knockout cup when a controversial penalty provided Busselton with a 1-0 victory to eliminate Dunsborough from the competition.
The club suffered two serious losses during the summer with quality midfielders Reuben Gelmi and Michael Raper leaving the club.
Raper’s holiday in England suddenly changed to a permanent stay when a family offer in a business venture proved too good to refuse.
Gelmi will attend university in Perth and has signed with Perth Premier League side Cockburn United.
Club president, Mark Gelmi, said that he expected the Towners to be a competitive unit under Blackburn who was an outstanding contributor to the club’s strong showing last season.
“We have kept many of the players from last year and the full time return of Brent Hillyard, one our most consistent performers for many season, is a major boost, “ said Gelmi.
“Newcomer de fender David McNicol looks strong while goalkeeper James Cross who played often last year with a leg injury appears to have overcome the problem.
“What is pleasing is the number of local quality youngsters who have joined the club like Tom Pigeon, Mitch Buttsworth, Luke Bowan-Wright, Tim Nigg and Harry Carroll to name just a few”.
Dunsborough will field teams in the Premier League, Premier League reserve side and a Premier League Women’s team who also have attracted a number of new players.
Unfortunately the Premier League and the Premier League Reserves will field only nine clubs forcing two byes for each club over the home and away competition.
Playing numbers has forced Margaret River out of the Premier League reserves while Geographe will compete in the reserves only having opted out of the Premier League.
The 2014 season was a good one for the Towners progressing to the semi-finals of the Pioneer Cup, losing the South West Premier League final on penalties, losing in the final of the Margaret River carnival while being highly competitive in the League competition.
