Box Hill United’s off-season recruitment drive has continued with the signing of four further players, headlined by returning pair Adrian Del Monaco and Ben Osei-Safo.
Kobbie Boahene and Kazuki Okada also make the move to Wembley Park as Greg Kassidas’ squad takes shape ahead of February’s season kick-off date.
Del Monaco returns to the club having spent the first part of the 2015 NPL season with the Melbourne Knights, before parting company with the club mid-season and joining State League 5 outfit Marcellin Old Collegians.
The 25-year-old defender first joined Box Hill in 2014 from Bulleen and developed a formidable partnership at the heart of the backline with current Richmond centre-back Josh Valadon.
Del Monaco made 25 league appearances for United, who narrowly missed out on promotion to the top-flight, however the defender’s impressive form alerted the Knights who secured his signature ahead of last season.
Despite making a good start to his career at Somers Street, where he started each of the Knights’ opening seven games of the season, Del Monaco lost his spot after a 2-2 home draw against Oakleigh Cannons and failed to regain his place back in the side.
His acquisition provides competition for places at the back for United, where Joey Calderone and Michael Godfrey established themselves as the club’s preferred centre-back pairing over the course of the 2015 season.
Re-joining Del Monaco at Wembley Park is 23-year-old winger Benjamin Osei-Safo, who links up with his former teammate after spending last season at NPL 2 rivals Kingston City.
Osei-Safo rose through the junior ranks at Richmond before making his senior debut in 2011 under Michael Chatzitrifonas, making seven senior appearances for the club before departing Kevin Bartlett Reserve following the Eagles’ relegation from the top flight in 2013.
He joined Box Hill ahead of the inaugural NPL 1 campaign but his time at Wembley Park was cruelly cut short due to osteitis pubis, which saw him leave the club without making an appearance.
Once recovered, Osei-Safo joined State League 3 outfit Croydon City Arrows, where he was managed by ex-NSL player Marcus Stergiopoulos and featured alongside former Melbourne Victory striker Danny Allsopp.
A move back to NPL 1 in 2015 followed, with the right-sided winger earning plaudits at Kingston City under Nick Tolios, making a total of 27 league appearances and scoring seven goals as the City mounted a promotion push in addition to a cup run that culminated in defeat at the quarter-finals stage to Hume City.
Central midfielder Kobbie Boahene has also joined Pythagoras after spending 2015 in the top flight with Bentleigh Greens and Werribee City respectively.
The 21-year-old, who is also capable of playing out wide on the wing, is an AIS graduate who in 2012/13 was a part of Melbourne Victory’s NYL Championship winning squad under Darren Davies.
Boahene joined South Melbourne ahead of the 2014 NPL season but his game time at Lakeside Stadium was limited to just nine substitute appearances, although he did grab a memorable extra-time winner in a Dockerty Cup clash away to Dandenong Thunder in the Round of 16 stage of competition.
A move to Bentleigh last summer saw game time hard to come by, as he featured just three times off the bench before transferring to Werribee City mid-way through the season, where he established himself as a regular first-team starter.
Despite making 11 appearances for the Bees, Boahene was not able to save the club from relegation and departed Werribee at the end of the season before agreeing terms with Box Hill, where he is hoping to become an integral member of the starting 11.
The final signing for the club is Japanese attacking midfielder Kazuki Okada, who joins the NPL 2 side from State League 1 outfit Manningham United Blues.
The 23-year-old featured for United in a recent 2-2 draw against South Melbourne and is the second and final international on the books of the club, alongside French forward Patrick Thiakane.
The four additions come days after the club secured the services of former Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart youth team players Keegan Coulter and Alex Dao.
Images: Mark Avellino (Osei-Safo, Del Monaco), Bruno Silverii (Boahene)