Souris the bright spark at St George FC
St George FC has enjoyed a great start to life in the NPL Men’s NSW competition.
Coming up from the FNSW League One Men’s competition, St George are currently in 10th place, closer to making the finals than they are to a relegation spot.
The side has secured five important victories this campaign in a smooth move to a higher division, which has been aided by the continued emergence of young star Evangelo Souris into the side.
Speaking on his impressive adaption to NPL Men’s NSW, Souris told Football NSW.
“I think the main difference between League One and NPL is the intensity and physicality of the teams.
“The speed of play is very robust meaning decisions need to be made quicker both on and off the ball.
“Further to this, the criticality of teams is a major step up.
“You give up one chance to the opposition in this league, and they punish you.”
St George FC has found this on occasion this campaign but is continuing to learn and build solidly within the competition.
“Our strong start to the season is nothing short of what we expected,” Souris said.
“We came into NPL Men’s NSW knowing we wanted to be fierce competitors, and I think our results have proven that.
“Despite our strong start to the season, both Jane (Talcevski) and Daniell (Zellany) (coach and assistant coach) are always pushing us to be better.”
St George’s ambition has been matched by quality from both players and staff throughout the season.
They were given just reward for their strong intentions at their celebrated opening of Barton Park, where Souris scored the winner against NPL Men’s NSW giants Sydney Olympic in a beautiful moment for the club.
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Reflecting on that incredible goal, Souris said, “It was an incredible feeling scoring the winner in such a historic game at the opening of a historic venue.”
“The massive turnout from the crowd made it that bit more special.
“In the context of the game, the goal I scored was a reflection of a great team performance.
“Hopefully I get to relive that experience throughout the remainder of the season.”
And the humble, grounded Souris is already putting in the work to unveil more moments like that, with the young star setting a clear goal to improve on the field.
“My goals for the rest of the season is to build on my current performances,” he said.
“The feeling of scoring the winner against Olympic has inspired me to get forward and be more involved in the final third.
“I believe it will add that missing piece to my game and push me to that next level of hopefully one day securing an A-League contract.”
Meanwhile, Souris also provided some insight into the mentality being instilled by Talcevski in St George’s strong season.
“As Jane Talcevski (Coach) says in the dressing room, ‘to win the next match’,” Souris said after being asked about St George’s aims for the rest of 2024.
“Our dedicated coaching staff are always emphasising that if we stick to our identity and style of play, we will have great success in the remainder of the season and our push for finals.
“The team have full belief in this and are keen to continue this run of form into the second half of the season.”
Finally, the young gun comes from good pedigree as his family are also stars of the NPL.
His cousin happens to be his captain Troy Danaskos while his father George was one of the most decorated NPL footballers having won many pieces of silverware with the Sutherland Sharks in the early 2000’s as well as skippering the side on top of playing in the old National Soccer League with the Wollongong Wolves.