Bendigo City have appointed Jose Montana Santamarta as the club’s new senior head coach, with the Spaniard taking charge of the club’s 2-2 draw against Brunswick City on the weekend.
He becomes the regional outfit’s third manager of this season by following in the footsteps of compatriot Esteban Quintas and interim Marco Kueck.
Hailing from Leon in the north-west of Spain, Santamarta began the year as the 20s coach of Dandenong City and was last week appointed to the hot seat at Epsom Soccer Complex.
He is accompanied at the club by countrymen Alejandro Montano Garcia, who will serve as the side’s conditioning coach, while interim Kueck reverts back to coaching the 20s.
City have struggled so far this campaign, and up until yesterday had registered just three points from nine league matches, with one-sided contests being a common theme in their fixtures.
A 1-0 victory over the Eastern Lions is their sole win of the season for a squad comprising mainly of young, inexperienced players embarking on their first foray into senior football.
Saturday’s encounter at Dunstan Reserve pitted the youngsters against the formidable force of an improved Brunswick City, who were looking to keep pace with second placed Kingston City.
However, the visitors took a shock 2-0 lead inside the opening half hour thanks to strikes from Matt Sporle and an accurate finish from range by Carl O’Keefe.
The hosts reduced the deficit on the stroke of half-time after Juan Portillo won and converted a penalty, before Welshman Adam Wright restored parity half-way through the second half.
Despite a surge of late pressure from Brunswick, Bendigo hung on for a point with the performances of defender Dillon Maikousis, captain George McHeileh, forward David Younan and goalkeeper Rob Munday earning plaudits.
On the touchline, Santamarta sported a passionate figure, constantly marshalling orders from the technical area as his troopers showed spirit in collecting a share of the spoils.
The result sees Bendigo remain 8th on the NPL2 West standings ahead of Werribee City and Sunshine George Cross, who have two and one point respectively.
Santamarta’s next game in charge will be his first at home as his side welcome NPL2 East promotion chasers Kingston City to central Victoria on Saturday May 7.
Image: Mark Avellino