SOCCER
FIVE-goal wins for Chelsea and Skye and a come-from-behind victory for Peninsula Strikers highlighted the third round of the Dockerty Cup.
Chelsea eased past Mount Eliza 5-0, Skye thumped Fawkner 6-1 while Strikers beat Lalor United 2-1. At Edithvale Recreation Reserve last Thursday night Chelsea applied early pressure but had to wait until the 29th minute when Daniel Vella was fouled in the box. Referee Benji Batten pointed to the spot and Adam Bartosy converted.
Two goals in the last five minutes of the half put the contest out of Mount Eliza’s reach.
Teenager Christian Murray’s powerful strike in the 42nd minute beat Mount Eliza keeper Luke Armao and two minutes later a Harry Parker throw-in on the left caused confusion in the Mount Eliza box. Bartosy capitalised by nipping in at the near post and slotting past Armao to make it 3-0. Murray’s quick turn and neat finish in the 70th minute made it 4-0 and Vella stole the ball from a Mount Eliza defender in the 73rd minute and broke into a one-on-one with Armao before finishing easily.
It was a strong performance from Chelsea who went into the contest without key off-season signings in prolific striker James Stinson and defender Jake Ross who were nursing injuries.
Skye hammered State 4 Fawkner who had steadfastly refused to change the venue, date and kick-off time for this tie despite being offered the chance to switch to various nights at Carrum Downs Recreation Reserve.
And when Skye attempted to bring the kick-off forward to a less oppressive part of a scorching Saturday again Fawkner objected this time claiming that player work commitments didn’t make the proposed earlier kick-off feasible. So at Comets Stadium at 3.30pm with the temperature edging over 36°C and a strong northerly blowing the tie kicked-off.
Skye had only four senior players from last season in its starting line-up and Fawkner shocked its host by opening the scoring through a deflected Kelan Connelly shot from just inside the box in the 15th minute. However that signalled the start of a barrage of goals from the home side. An own goal from Fawkner’s Giovanni DiSisto, followed up with strikes from Nhan Than and Mark O’Connor gave the State 2 outfit a 3-1 lead at the break.
It was more of the same in the second half as substitute Austin Sporys nabbed a brace and O’Connor added a second to comprehensively dump Fawkner out of the national cup competition. Peninsula Strikers went into their away tie with 10 players in their matchday squad under the age of 23 and one of them, Taylan Geylan, scored the goals that sunk State 2 North-West rival Lalor United.
The home side took the lead in the 35th minute when a cheap turnover was followed by a through ball to Woohyun Nam who finished calmly into the far corner. Strikers hit back in the 56th minute after a really good press won the ball which was squared to Geylan who slotted home brilliantly past Lalor keeper Vaios Kalogerakis to level. Another good press led to a 71st-minute winner as Riley Anderton forced Kalogerakis to lose possession and Geylan made no mistake by firing into the top corner.
The other local in Cup action, Frankston Pines, lost 3-2 away to Clifton Hill.
Mornington rescheduled its round three tie with Mazenod to Dallas Brooks Park on Thursday evening while Langwarrin enters the competition at the round four stage.
In VPL1 news Langwarrin is now second in the league following its 3-1 win over Melbourne City at Casey Fields on Sunday evening. City led through Tobenna Obani in the 13th minute but a Dante Avian header 10 minutes later made it 1-1. In time added in the first half Archie Macphee’s lethal left foot sent Langy in at the break with a 2-1 lead and an own goal from City’s Ryan Kalms in the 71st minute gave the visitors breathing space.
Langy has taken advantage of its run of six consecutive away games to give the main pitch at its Lawton Park headquarters a makeover. New topsoil has been laid and the pitch re-sown and it will be ready for the club’s next home match on Saturday 20 April against Melbourne Victory.
In other news Football Victoria last week announced the promotion and relegation criteria for the upcoming season.
The major change is the increase of VPL2 in 2025 from a 12 to a 14-team league to align with NPL and VPL1.
This has a flow-on effect on State Leagues resulting in the top two teams in State 1 South-East being promoted to VPL2 while the bottom two teams are relegated.
In State 2 South-East it’s a two-up, two-down scenario.
State 3 is more complicated.
South Yarra withdrew from State League competition last month leaving State 3 South-East with just 11 teams.
FV chose not to address that situation immediately.
At this stage the champion of State 4 South will gain automatic promotion while the runner-up will take part in play-offs to decide South Yarra’s replacement.
Should the play-off winner come from State 4 South then the third-placed side in State 5 South may be involved in a promotion play-off.
Here are the results of last week’s friendlies involving local clubs:
Peninsula Strikers reserves 0 Rosebud 0; Seaford United 1 (Mitch Hawkins) Baxter 3 (Jack Elliott 2, Aleks Dukic); Somerville Eagles 3 (Tom Simmons, Jakob Gurney, Jaden Taberner) Blackburn NewHope 1.
This week’s VPL1 round six fixture:
Friday 15 March: Werribee City v Langwarrin, Galvin Park Reserve, 8.30pm.
Rescheduled Dockerty Cup round 3:
Thursday, 14 March: Mornington v Mazenod, Dallas Brooks Park, 8.15pm.
Here are some upcoming friendlies:
Tuesday, 12 March: Mount Martha v Chelsea, Civic Reserve, 7.30pm; Casey Panthers v Mentone, Prospect Hill Reserve, 7.30pm.
Friday, 15 March: Lilydale Montrose Utd v Mentone, Monbulk Regional Facility, 6.30pm & 8.30pm.
Saturday 16 March: Baxter v Aspendale, Baxter Park, 1pm & 3pm; Plenty Valley Lions v Mentone, RGC Cook Reserve, 1pm & 3pm; Seaford United v Croydon City, North Seaford Reserve, 1pm & 3pm.
