They've taken a significant step towards promotion, and Helensburgh are ready to make their mark in the Premier League next year - if given the green light.
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The Thistle wrapped up the 2022 District League premiership with a round to spare following Saturday's 12-1 rout of Balgownie at Judy Masters Oval.
The victory put an exclamation point on a dominant 18-month period for Andrew Paine's side, who were jointly leading last year's title race (alongside Unanderra) before the season was cut short due to COVID. This competition has also been disrupted by rain, however, Helensburgh has remained unbeaten in 2022.
"I'm ecstatic for the playing group and the club. It's been a stop-start year which has provided a lot of challenges for the players, and they've shown a heap of resilience to get where they are," coach Paine told the Mercury.
"The consistency has been great, and the players have been able to maintain concentration of a week-to-week basis. Trying to get promoted from District League is a whole different beast to playing Premier League, you've got this weight of pressure that sits on you for the whole year because you know you can't barely lose a game if you want to get there. So for them to deal with that has been really pleasing."
The Thistle will now wait to see if they get promoted to the Premier League. The Mercury understands Football South Coast's board will meet in the off-season to determine if Helensburgh meets the criteria to be elevated for the 2023 season.
"I've come in the tail end of this, the club has been working towards it for a while now, and [former Thistle coach] Brad Boardman started all of that," Paine said.
"Holistically, the club is ready to go to Premier League. And we've got one of the largest junior bases in the Illawarra, so it's been an aim of ours to create a pathway for the kids in our community to play in the highest level in the Illawarra.
"I know Football South Coast will sit down at the end of the year and go through the different alternative options, but we're certainly of the opinion that we need to be there. If you want to be genuine about it being the Premier League, then you need the premier clubs in it."
If Helensburgh is given the green light next season, Paine remains confident that they will put up a strong challenge in the IPL.
"We're not going there to make up the numbers. I know that's a trotted out cliche, but we've done really well against Premier League clubs in the past year-and-a-half," he said. "We've got a young group of mostly 21 to 25-year-olds, so you'd like to think if they continue to develop, they'd go pretty well."
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Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
