Victory face off against City this weekend, but it’s not the traditional crosstown rivalry an A-League pundit would expect to see.
In the Playstation NPL 1, Dandenong City’s coach Aaron Healey may have endured a 2-3 home defeat against Eastern Lions in his senior managerial debut, but the former Melbourne Victory assistant manager – who is due to face off against his former club’s youth side on the weekend – insists that the performance on the day was a positive step forward.
Dandenong City came into the clash without the services of veteran duo Dario Matkovic and ex-Victory man Simon Storey, while last year’s NPL 1 Player of the Season, visa import Sean Seavill, was on the bench after only returning to Australia a few weeks ago.
Spearheaded by experienced campaigner Alex Rojas, City took the lead through new signing David Di Lorio, but were outdone by a double from former player Philip Ajao and a superb Thomas Falconer strike, with a late goal to substitute Ricardo Gonzalez proving mere consolation.
Healey described the contest as a “positive performance even though the result was not there.”
Ahead of the clash against Darren Davies’ led Victory Youth, the former Victory and VIS coach laid down the framework of the programme he is implementing at the club, formerly known as Chelsea Hajduk until its merger with Dandenong City in 2008.
“What I am trying to do here is set up a programme not to dissimilar from the one that we had at the VIS and Victory, but obviously on a smaller scale and smaller budget,” Healey said.
“We want to make sure that the guys have a programme around them that will hopefully maximise their performance, look after their recovery and monitoring of wellbeing.”
Healey became senior manager after spending last season as the club’s Technical Director, with previous coach Ivan Duzel’s departure over the summer opening the door for a senior managerial berth.
“I enjoy it. I have coached professionally for the last 15, 20 years first with the Victorian Institute of Sport and then the Melbourne Victory,” he said.
“Last year I had a bit a year off to try and set up this program within the club. There is no doubt that moving forward that this club has a fantastic junior programme.”
The City mentor heaped praise on some of the club’s youngsters, particularly 18-year-old right-back Bradley Clarke who shone on debut, and goalscorer David Di Lorio, who recently turned 20.
“We have a lot of good youngsters coming through and I could even throw in a few more names, which we didn’t have last year,” he said.
A former player in Victoria’s State Leagues, Healey spent his formative coaching years at the VIS under Ernie Merrick, before the Scotsman recruited him to be a part of his coaching staff at the Victory.
There he spent six seasons with the club, experiencing the joys of two Championship triumphs, before leaving at the end of the 2010/11 season when Merrick left his post and Healey was overlooked for the vacant managerial role, which ultimately went to youth team coach Mehmet Durakovic.
Since then he had primarily being involved with youth coaching at local clubs Berwick City and the Southern Bluetongues in the Victorian Champions League (VCL).
Although his move into senior coaching kicked off with a defeat, Healey’s next game provides the opportunity to get one up on his old club, with Melbourne Victory youth playing its first NPL 1 fixture following the conclusion of the National Youth League.