Ledwith looking for a new experience
Southern United v Eastern Suburbs Sunnyvale Park
Tomorrow, 2pm
DANNY Ledwith will be hoping the new year will usher in an achievement he has not yet made.
Eastern Suburbs remains the only side to not drop points to Southern United over the past two and ahalf seasons.
That run stretches back to Ledwith’s arrival, when he signed with Southern alongside four other Irishmen.
He gets a chance to break that trend at Sunnyvale Park tomorrow, as the national football premiership resumes after a twoweek break.
Southern has been back at it since Friday last week, which had left a good window to get away for a few days.
It had left the team feeling rejuvenated, and Ledwith was feeling confident heading into the game.
‘‘It’s good, sometimes, to break in the middle of the season to reenergise and get the body right from little niggles and injuries,’’ the 27yearold said.
‘‘I think everyone’s feeling quite confident coming into the weekend.
‘‘The training has been really good — really intense to get the fitness levels back to match fitness after the break.’’
Now in his third season with the club, Ledwith brings experience to the midfield and is adept at delivering dangerous balls into the box.
He has not yet got on the scoresheet this season, although has gone close from long range on several occasions.
There had been a clear shift in mentality since his arrival, and he felt the squad was the strongest it had been in that time.
It was no longer content to just be strong defensively and pick up points when it could; it was becoming more of an attacking threat.
That was not just the case at Southern either, as Ledwith felt the rest of the league had improved as well.
Despite that, he felt the club had come a long way and he was enjoying himself more than ever.
‘‘It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster, to be honest.
‘‘We always have a chat — myself and a couple of the other lads that have been here since day one — with [coach] Paul [O’Reilly], about our first training session in our first year.
‘‘To look where we’ve come, it’s been an absolute rollercoaster, but a really enjoyable rollercoaster.
‘‘I’ve really enjoyed the progress the squad and the region has made.’’
Ledwith has two years left on his visa, and hopes to get that extended so he could remain in Dunedin.
The city felt like home now and while he missed family and friends in Ireland, technology helped bridge that gap.
But he is not one to look too far ahead.
As he prepares for the second half of the season with Southern, Ledwith’s focus is purely on tomorrow’s game.
Southern enters 2019 in seventh place on 10 points — six off the top four.
However, it has a game in hand over the majority of its opponents and will play seven of its final 10 games at home.
Meanwhile Suburbs enter the game in second place and remain one of the league’s strongest teams.
Kickoff is at 2pm.