A perfect autumn afternoon at Howard Dawson Reserve set the scene for a dramatic opening day triple header, a late winner for the seniors, a tough debut for the reserves, and a second-half collapse the thirds will want to quickly forget.

Seniors 2–1 Croydon City

Swinburne FC’s senior side opened their 2026 Metro 2 campaign with an accomplished 2–1 victory over Croydon City at Howard Dawson Reserve on Saturday afternoon.

In ideal conditions a clear sky and a pleasant 23 degrees the side produced a performance that will give the club considerable cause for optimism as the season gets underway.

New signing Martiniano Miranda announced his arrival at the club in the finest possible fashion, breaking the deadlock in the first half with a composed finish following an excellent assist from Chris Kennedy.

Croydon City drew level early in the second half via a penalty, a well-struck effort directed into the bottom-left corner that goalkeeper Omer came agonisingly close to keeping out.

Miranda proved the difference once again, producing a timely late intervention to restore Swinburne’s advantage and secure all three points.

Reserves 1–4 Old Melburnians

The Reserves faced a challenging afternoon in Metro 5, going down 4–1 to Old Melburnians in the 1pm fixture.

This was a significantly rebuilt squad, with 11 of the 17 players selected making their Swinburne debut having joined the club ahead of this season.

Old Melburnians grabbed the lead before a Thomas Burchsmith header off Nik Peterson’s corner pulled the score level.

The away side eventually run out piling on three more goals to run out winners.

Not the result Harry Lawrence was hoping for in his side’s first match in their new league.

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Thirds 3–6 Keysborough

The morning fixture in Metro 7 produced one of the more remarkable opening-day stories across the club.

The Thirds, facing Keysborough in the 11am kick-off, delivered a first half of genuine quality that had everyone in excellent spirits.

Alex Revill opened the scoring within the first five minutes, and the momentum continued when Joel Kleber headed home from a Nathan Gorga corner shortly afterwards to make it 2–0.

Revill then added a second – matching his total goal return from the entirety of last season – as Swinburne went into the half-time break 3–1 ahead following a Keysborough consolation.

The second half told a very different story. Keysborough came out with renewed intent and, as Swinburne’s energy levels waned, scored five unanswered goals to turn the match entirely on its head, ultimately prevailing 6–3.

It was a difficult end to what had been a highly promising afternoon.