SOCCER IT’S a newlook Langwarrin that launches the league season on Saturday when it hosts Kingston City at Lawton Park at 7pm. Scott Miller has brought in 13 players from other clubs during the off-season in a major squad makeover that the local club hopes will deliver a successful campaign. “Pre-season’s been really enjoyable and the characters we’ve brought in have had a really positive effect on the group,” Miller said. “I sat down last week and looked at the league and seven of those clubs have been in NPL1 while two are A-League clubs. “Compare that to Langwarrin who…
Author: Craig MacKenzie
SOCCER MARINOS Panayi quit Frankston Pines last week and captain Ryan Ratcliffe is trialling with Casey Comets. And Rosebud has secured the goalkeeper it sought by luring former Langwarrin, Peninsula Strikers and Knox City custodian Colin McCormack out of premature retirement. State 5 club Rosebud was delighted to secure McCormack after losing Hayden Hicks to Seaford United. Rosebud coach Paul Truman had been trying out two younger keepers and was keen to sign an experienced gloveman. “Signing Colin is a big plus for us,” Truman said. “Having an experienced keeper is so important if we’re to build a really competitive…
SOCCER COULD Paul Truman be the man who lifts Rosebud off the foot of the State Leagues? The ’Buds re-entered State League for the 2019 season finishing eighth in State 5, not competing in a pandemic-ravaged 2020 then seventh in an interrupted 2021 before hitting rock bottom last year. Rosebud won just two games in 2022 amassing nine points in all with a minus 54 goal difference. Clearly the ’Buds were the worst team on the peninsula. The senior coaching position had become a poisoned chalice that had seen Pat Sabatino, Tommy McShane, Mark Pagliarulo, Ryan Monk and Stef Papaluca…
SOCCER SCOTTISH striker Rory Currie arrived in Melbourne last week to bolster Mornington’s 2023 promotion push. The Seagulls have had the 24-year-old on their radar since last year and agreed terms with him months ago but have been keeping the move under wraps. Currie has been involved with both Celtic and Rangers as a youth and made 10 appearances for Hearts over a four-year period that included loan spells at East Fife, Forfar Athletic and Linfield. He signed with Brechin in 2020 and in November 2021 joined Tranent Juniors currently third in the Lowland League. Despite only being here for…
SOCCER THE 10th staging of the Steve Wallace Cup takes place at Lawton Park, Langwarrin on Saturday. The event commemorates the life of local soccer icon Stephen William Wallace who was 54 years old when he died on 19 July 2011 and was a former Langwarrin player, coach, president, life member, club council representative and Bayside League referee. His daughter and current Langwarrin president Tanya Wallace is the tournament organiser and is proud of the manner in which this charity tournament showcases the local game. “It’s a special tournament for teams on the peninsula,” she said. “It brings people together…
SOCCER CALLUM Goulding has high expectations of what Langwarrin can achieve this year in NPL2. And the midfielder doesn’t buy into talk of 2022 being a disappointing season. “From the outside it may have looked like we didn’t have a good season but we drew eight or nine games – something ridiculous like that – and if you win some of them it’s a whole new season altogether and people are probably not talking about us the way they were last season,” Goulding said. Much hype surrounded Langwarrin heading into last season with the club eventually finishing seventh in a…
SOCCER SEAFORD United and Mount Eliza will play in State 5 South next season. Both clubs were given the welcome news from Football Victoria last week after undergoing a rigorous application process. South East United had withdrawn from State 5 South as FV screened the applicants thereby reducing the competition to 10 teams so the inclusion of the two local clubs restores the league’s 12-team format. For Seaford it’s a return to State League after a one-year absence while Mount Eliza will compete in State League for the first time. Seaford is yet to formally announce its senior coach for…
SOCCER THE first thing that strikes you as you enter the Centenary Park clubrooms is a bar with a Shiplap timber cladding façade. There’s signage on the façade. It reads: “The Clayton Lee Bar.” Lower your gaze to a 75-year-old grey-haired man with a welcoming smile and a lilting Welsh accent. He is serving behind the bar – his bar – and he’s been doing that for decades. Since July 1982 when the Lee family from south Wales emigrated to Australia Clayton Lee has been one of the constants of the local game. Lee, wife Ann and oldest son Darren…
SOCCER ASPENDALE Stingrays captain Peter Dimopoulos has a blunt message for players thinking of joining the State 5 club. “It’s a culture-driven club so no matter how good a player you are you have to be prepared to be part of the group,” the 25-year-old said. “Look, at the end of the day it’s a State 5 club and if you’re not going to get in amongst the boys and be prepared to have a bit of fun then you won’t fit in. “Right now we’re in talks with one or two players to come down and see what they…
SOCCER ANDY McIntyre could become the fourth Mornington player to join Peninsula Strikers in the off-season as the State 2 outfit closes in on the signature of the experienced defender. Campbell Steedman, Stevie Elliott and Jamie Davidson have already moved from Dallas Brooks Park to Centenary Park. Liverpool-born McIntyre, 31, joined Langwarrin during the 2014 season and switched to Mornington for the 2019 season. The promise of better things to come at Strikers was part of the lure of Centenary Park. “Strikers have a lot of young lads coming through and they said they just need a bit of experience…
SOCCER MITCHELL Blake is one of the few local players who can claim to have played for just two clubs in the past 25 years. The 31-year-old’s career kicked off at Lawton Park as a five-year-old defender but he found his football niche eight years later when he switched roles and went up front. That was the trigger for regular Golden Boot awards and the transition from junior to senior football came in spectacular fashion. Current Langwarrin senior assistant Jamie Skelly was coaching Langy’s reserves when Blake was called on. It was an away game against Clifton Hill and the…
SOCCER A CRASH course in coping with senior football this year bodes well for Peninsula Strikers’ assault on the 2023 State 2 South-East championship. That’s the belief of Strikers’ defensive midfielder Calvin Delaney. The 20-year-old (he turns 21 on 30 November) was part of a major squad makeover overseen by his father and senior coach Donn during last pre-season and early signs drew derisive commentary from many onlookers. “Of course we heard the criticism but it was way too harsh,” Calvin Delaney said. “Anyway we were too excited about the season and we didn’t care about the negativity. “A lot…
SOCCER MOUNT Eliza and Seaford United will apply to Football Victoria for a place in next season’s State 5 South. Both clubs confirmed their intent last week after the state federation opened the application process outlining the wide-ranging criteria clubs must address in their application. Mount Eliza is the new kid on the block as far as State League status is concerned and club president Justin Sheppard is keen to halt the annual player exodus from its senior squad currently competing under the Bayside Football Association banner. “We keep losing players every year who want to play at a higher…
SOCCER A MULTI-MILLION dollar makeover, new coaches and new players on the way – there’s a quiet revolution underway at Mornington. The Seagulls are major beneficiaries of an $8.5 million redevelopment of Dallas Brooks Park involving four new pitches, new drainage, floodlighting to 200 lux on the main pitch and 100 lux on the other pitches with a new access driveway and car parking. “This redevelopment has been in the works for the last 12 months and we’re rapt that it’s going to go ahead,” Mornington president Matt Cameron said. “The footy oval redevelopment starts first and it’s planned to…
SOCCER PENINSULA Strikers announced on Friday that they had signed Steve Elliott and Campbell Steedman from Mornington. There’s a sense of unfinished business at Centenary Park after just missing out on promotion from State 2 this year and both new signings are expected to play pivotal roles in the club’s title tilt in 2023. Strikers now have joint senior coaches in Donn Delaney and Scott Morrison with the latter switching from Mornington so he’s well positioned to assess the newcomers. “There’d been initial contact with Campbell before I got involved (with Strikers) but obviously when I got involved it was…
SOCCER SAMMY Orritt has been released by Langwarrin to free up a visa spot for Scottish striker Archie McPhee. And the Lawton Park club has also agreed terms with goalkeeper James Burgess from Northcote City and defender Charlie Fry from Kingston City. While the decision to release Orritt may surprise some after his consistent displays last season it didn’t surprise the talented Englishman. “I don’t think it’s a secret they need to score more goals and they wanted to use the visa on a number nine which is fair enough. “There’s no hard feelings. You’re not going to keep a…
SOCCER BAXTER shot-stopper James Foster last week re-signed for a sixth straight season and will be officially joined this week by Frankston Pines goalkeeper Jarrod Nardino. The pair will go head-to-head for the prized No 1 spot in a senior squad reshaped by first-time senior coach Stephen Fisher. Foster’s junior career involved stints at Langwarrin, Caulfield Cobras, Peninsula Strikers and South Eastern Piranhas and his senior clubs have been Langy and Baxter. His full senior debut for Langwarrin was in the derby cauldron at Dallas Brooks Park against Mornington and the then teenager acquitted himself well. Now 24 years old…
SOCCER MARK Larner is the new senior coach of State 5 South outfit Mount Martha. He fills the vacancy left by Chris Sanderson who succumbed to work commitments and stepped aside to concentrate on his duties as technical director and team manager of the senior and reserves teams. Sanderson also liaises with the shire council so he’s been Mount Martha’s jack-of-all-trades as the club tries to come to terms with the demands of State League competition. “Thursdays is a big day for me workwise and it’s also the club’s main training night,” Sanderson said. “I missed the last two Thursdays…
SOCCER LIAM Baxter and Tom Hawkins have left Frankston Pines and have joined Baxter. They are the first signings that new Baxter coach Stephen Fisher hopes will bring the State 4 outfit success next season. Scottish striker Baxter was on the books of Inverness Caledonian Thistle and a number of Highland League clubs before arriving here early in 2017 to play for Shepparton-based Goulburn Valley Suns. He switched to Langwarrin that same year and has also been on the books of Mornington, Casey Comets, Box Hill United, Doveton and Kingston City. Hawkins has previously played with Mornington and Peninsula Strikers.…
SOCCER SCOTT Miller and Trevor Johnston stole the coaching spotlight last week with Langwarrin and Frankston Pines respectively. Former Socceroos assistant Miller will line-up for a fifth straight season at Lawton Park while Pines wasted little time in filling the vacancy left by the resignation of Kevin “Squizzy” Taylor by announcing Johnston as his replacement. “We’ll go again,” a buoyant Miller said. “I really enjoy being there. “I enjoy my relationship with the 21s coaches Ben and Pooley while Greg (Kilner) has been like a mentor to me. “We’ve got a really strong, united group behind the team. “The club…
SOCCER NEWLY promoted State 2 outfit Frankston Pines is looking for a senior coach. The position became vacant last week when Kevin “Squizzy” Taylor formally resigned. “I told the club in written form that I won’t be seeking re-appointment next season,” Taylor said. “I’m physically and mentally washed out. “It’s partly my problem as well as I’m a ‘boots and all’ person and if I think something needs to be done and no-one will bloody do it then I do it myself. “I gave it my all and I reached the point where I had nothing more to give –…
SOCCER FRANKSTON Pines were the only local team to win promotion this year after the weekend’s final round of matches ended the chances of Mornington, Peninsula Strikers and Skye United. However, Pines failed to win the State 3 South-East title after heading the league ladder for most of the season only to draw 0-0 away to Ashburton and finish second to Hampton East Brighton. Star Pines midfielder Jordan “Caka” Avraham was shown a straight red card in the 29th minute which made Pines’ task of breaking down a defensive-minded opponent difficult. “They well and truly parked the bus and although…
SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIPS and promotion are on the line for four local clubs come this weekend’s final round of the 2022 season. Frankston Pines are in touching distance of the State 3 South-East title having already secured promotion while State 1 local Mornington and State 2 neighbours Peninsula Strikers and Skye United remain in the promotion race. Pines face an away fixture against ninth-placed Ashburton on Saturday while Mornington has a mountain to climb away to title-chasing Beaumaris. Pines thrashed visitor Rowville Eagles 5-1 last weekend thanks to a Liam Baxter masterclass in off-the-ball movement and finishing. While Rowville’s best player,…
SOCCER MORNINGTON’S 2022 league season hangs in the balance and its fate is not in its own hands. With just two rounds remaining the Seagulls must win both matches and hope other results go their way if they are to realise a long-held ambition of playing in the NPL. As things stand Malvern City tops the State 1 South-East ladder on 44 points, Beaumaris is second on 42, Boroondara-Carey Eagles third on 41 and Mornington fourth on 40 with the first two teams expected to be offered places in NPL3 next season. While Malvern and Boroondara-Carey clash this weekend Beaumaris…
SOCCER MORNINGTON missed a chance to close on the State 1 South-East leaders in the race for an NPL spot when it drew 1-1 away with second-placed Boroondara-Carey Eagles on Saturday. The Seagulls enjoyed the better of the first half with the best chance falling to Campbell Steedman inside 15 minutes but his header back across home team keeper Gavin Watson was matched by a classy save that maintained the stalemate. On the cusp of half-time a quality Josh Hine volley dipped late and rattled the bar but rebounded out and was cleared. The second half once again saw the…
SOCCER FRANKSTON Pines won promotion to State 2 last weekend despite a 0-0 draw against State 3 title challenger Hampton East Brighton. And the $3.9m Monterey Reserve upgrade will be officially opened on Thursday even though the new clubrooms may remain unfit for purpose if problems with gas connection continue. Pines have been forced to use the synthetic pitch at Wedge Road in Carrum Downs for much longer than anticipated. That was the venue for the ladder leader to grind out a point on Friday night and with other results on the weekend going in Pines’ favour it was able…
SOCCER SOMERVILLE’S Adam Steele has been forced to retire due to ongoing concussion issues. The uncompromising defender is the second local player to stop playing this season due to the risk of head injury after post-concussion syndrome prematurely ended the career of Frankston Pines’ stalwart CJ Hodgson in April. London-born Steele, 32, arrived in Melbourne in 2012 and his first club here was Manningham United where he made the switch to defence after playing most of his career up front. He joined Somerville in early 2021 after stints with Eltham Redbacks, Ashburton United and Mount Martha. “Somerville’s been a fantastic…
SOCCER BAXTER announced on Monday (27 June) that Stephen Fisher would take over from George Hughes as senior coach for the 2023 season. Fisher will be in charge of a senior squad on a full-time basis for the first time but has an extensive playing and coaching background. The 55-year-old played with Chelsea, Frankston Pines, Frankston City and Botany Park and his coaching career kicked off at Lawton Park when he coached his son Dylan in Langwarrin’s juniors. “Gus Macleod was instrumental in getting me to do coaching courses and he recommended me to Football Victoria to get involved in…
LANGWARRIN soccer club is still celebrating the Socceroos’ qualification for November’s World Cup finals and the pivotal defence role played by its former player Bailey Wright in the win over Peru on penalties last week in Qatar. The Socceroos’ defender was making his 25th national team appearance and is now vying for a spot in the 23-man squad for the finals. Langwarrin technical director Gus Macleod gave Wright his senior debut in 2009 when the teenager was 16 years old and has followed his career closely. “He’s come a long, long way from the wee five-year-old who started playing for…
SOCCER HOLDER Somerville retained the Eagles Cup after a 2-2 draw with Baxter at Baxter Park on Saturday. The charity day has become an integral part of derby clashes between these local rivals and last weekend’s contest didn’t disappoint. Baxter was forced to dig deep when staring at a 2-0 deficit after 15 minutes. The home side struggled to defend set pieces and the left boot of Somerville’s Adrian Pace, a former Baxter player, was a constant threat whenever his corners were swung into the back post. The visitors took three minutes to hit the front when Connor Carson was…