SOCCER
KYLE Eichenberger’s signing could be Baxter’s saviour as it heads into the second half of the season with renewed hope that it can maintain its State 4 South status. To do so would mean a top six finish for Billy Armour’s side given the effects of the upcoming league restructure which severely impacts State 4 and State 5 levels and creates new State 6 and State 7 divisions.
Enticing Eichenberger to Baxter Park is one of the marquee moves of the season and hopes are high that he will provide the finishing touch so desperately needed. Eichenberger joined Peninsula Strikers in January from Langwarrin where he was under-23s captain last year, won the Golden Boot award and was runner-up in the Player’s Player Of The Year voting. He stepped away from the game for personal reasons but his renewed eagerness to play was evident from his first training session at Baxter a fortnight ago.
Head coach Billy Armour was relentless in his pursuit of the attacking midfielder and their mutual admiration is obvious. “Billy was constantly reaching out to me and I was enjoying my break from the game but he was insistent,” Eichenberger said. “So I went down to Baxter on a Thursday and I really enjoyed the session. “One of the reasons I wanted to go to Baxter was seeing how passionate Billy was and he’s a really, really good man manager. “I sort of felt a connection with what his aims are for the club and I know how much it would mean for him to keep the boys up this year.”
From Armour’s perspective his relentless pursuit of his new signing was thoroughly justified. “It’s been a lot of hard work to coax him to come down in fact it probably bordered on stalking,” he joked. “Seriously though after that first session he stayed behind with boys and was laughing and joking with them and I knew then that he would fit in. “We don’t just want quality players here we want really good characters and Kyle fits the bill on both counts.” That won’t stop Armour from pursuing other signings and his focus now switches to capturing a central striker. “We have to start taking our chances – that’s our biggest problem and we need to fix it,” Armour added.
Eichenberger marked his Baxter debut with two goals last weekend but the locals went down 5-3 in a surprising result away to second bottom Lyndale United. Daniel Bancroft was Baxter’s other scorer.
At the other end of the table Chelsea continued its seesawing leadership battle against Endeavour United with a 5-2 derby win over Somerville Eagles at Edithvale Recreation Reserve on Saturday. The highlight of this match was a hat-trick to 17-year-old Christian Murray.
In the 15th minute a James Stinson shot deflected off the bar and Murray was on hand to head home the rebound. Just before half-time Nathan Boccari added to the lead with a back post header from a Dylan Scott free-kick. Murray nabbed his second and gave the home side a three-goal cushion in the 51st minute when Daniel Vella’s work on the right forced a defensive error from the Eagles and Murray capitalised by slotting the ball into an empty net from the edge of the box. The teenager’s hat-trick came six minutes later from a long-range effort from outside the box that flew over the helpless Somerville keeper.
To the visitors’ credit they reduced the deficit with a goal from Marcus Anastasiou and a converted penalty from Alessio Izzo but in the 90th minute normal service was resumed with Stinson getting his name on the scoresheet with a close-range strike.
Pines went down 4-0 at home to Endeavour United last Saturday but it was a promising display by the league’s bottom side with the result dependent on two converted penalties and two own goals.
Rosebud drew 1-1 at home to Springvale City on Saturday evening. The Buds had by far the better of the first half and were a threat from the first whistle. Ten minutes in and Alfie Harris was brought down in the box as he drove in at pace. The always reliable Dougie Cunnison who returned from interstate last month stepped up to put the hosts 1-0 up.
The visitors hit back in the 33rd minute when Maxim Avram stole in at the far post to knock a glancing header past advancing Rosebud keeper Colin McCormack. The momentum swung in the second half with Springvale dominating possession but it was unable to break the deadlock in a pulsating and hard-fought encounter. Recent scans revealed that influential Rosebud midfielder Ben Symonds has a broken ankle putting his return to playing this season under a cloud.
In VPL1 Langwarrin made it back-to-back wins with Friday night’s 2-1 away victory over seventh-placed Brunswick City. The visitors led in the fifth minute when Brad Blumenthal scored from a tight angle after Brunswick keeper Nic Mooney misread a Lucas Portelli pass. When Mooney brought down Blumenthal who had ran onto a Tom Youngs through ball the referee pointed to the spot and Portelli converted to make it 2-0.
It took until the final minute of normal time for Brunswick to hit back. A great ball from the dangerous Dylan Allshorn was cut back to Jesse Makarounas who placed it through a packed box and into the net. It made for a nervy last few minutes with the home team desperate for an equaliser but Langy’s defence held firm to secure a valuable three points.
In State 1 Mornington suffered its fourth loss of a topsy-turvy season when going down 2-1 away to Malvern City on Saturday. The visitors started brightly and in the 5th minute their pressure paid off when a cross into the box found Rory Wagner who calmly took a touch and slotted home his first goal for the club. Minutes later Wagner thought he had doubled his tally and the team’s advantage only for a dubious offside call from the linesman to rule out the goal.
The second half began disastrously for the visitors when a misplaced pass back by Ryan Paczkowski caught goalkeeper Kane Runge off guard and gifted Malvern’s Sayed Fatemi with a simple tap-in for the equaliser. Mornington responded with renewed intensity creating a flurry of chances and earning a penalty but Keiran Dover was unable to convert from the spot. In the 76th minute Malvern hit Mornington on the counter and Stephen Macdonald scored what proved to be the decisive goal.
The defeat leaves things wide open at the top of the table heading into the second round of fixtures and it would be no surprise if Mornington gaffer Adam Jamieson is tempted to strengthen his squad.
In State 2 there was no joy last weekend for Skye United and Peninsula Strikers.
Skye lost 1-0 away to Knox City while Strikers were once again left to rue missed chances as they went down 1-0 away to Casey. Strikers went into the contest without the suspended Wayne Gordon and Jaiden Madafferi, Riley Anderton and Tommy Wood who has gone to the UK for family reasons.
Casey started stronger and took advantage of a defensive error with Braden Bradford producing a very good finish. Comets had a second goal ruled out for a foul against Danny Brooks in the lead-up but after that Strikers sprung to life only to spurn a number of chances. Matt Harrington had the best scoring chance in the first half but Comets keeper Kile Kennedy did well to save in a one-on-one situation.
The second half was mostly one-way traffic but Comets were dangerous on the counter and forced Strikers keeper Faraz Zenoozi to produce a fine save from a header. But despite playing some excellent football on a pitch best described as a cow paddock Strikers blew six one-on-ones and their profligacy up front has been the story of their season so far.
In State 5 Mount Eliza’s convincing 4-1 home win over Keysborough has drawn Gerry McDonagh’s side to within three points of leader Fortuna 60. Three first-half goals decided this contest with an Austin Mcewen brace in the 21st and 27th minutes forcing the visitors onto the back foot and a Michael Wright volley in the 42nd minute ensuring that the home side would take a commanding lead into the main break.
Keysborough didn’t clear properly from a corner in the 67th minute and Darcy Purcell crossed into the area where Harris Battison headed in to make it 4-0. Keysborough’s Dusko Erkalovic scored a consolation goal for the visitors in the 75th minute.
Seaford won 7-1 away to Cleeland United on Friday night despite Dylan Waugh being sidelined by a hamstring injury. Five first-half goals ended any chance the home team had of causing an upset. Conor Mcfall got the first of his brace after 10 minutes when he finished a low Blake Hicks cross to the back post. Then a long Hicks throw wasn’t dealt with by the defence and Mcfall made it 2-0. Tristan Stass got in on the scoring act in the 30th minute when he headed in Mcfall’s inswinging corner. Then Hicks’ long-range strike seemed to bamboozle the Cleeland keeper who let the ball go through his hands and Zain Ahmed rounded off the goalfest following up a brilliant turn on the edge of the box with a finish into the bottom corner of goal. Cleeland struck back in the 63rd minute after a nice combination down the right and a fantastic strike from Anglo Moner.
But Seaford didn’t ease up and seven minutes later a perfectly weighted Matthew Davis diagonal found Backy Barakzoi in behind the defence and he converted from a one-on-one. To cap the performance 17-year-old Abraham Leuth grabbed his first senior goal after Mcfall broke down the right hand side and squared it to the teenager.
Aspendale got back to winning ways with Saturday’s 2-1 home win over Pakenham United. The first half was a scrappy affair and it took until the 53rd minute for the deadlock to be broken with a well-placed free-kick headed home by Lewis Marco.
Pakenham’s Sulaiman Ahmad equalised with a low strike from just inside the box in the 86th minute but four minutes later Blake Rosenberg forced a defensive error and finished off from a one-on-one with Pakenham keeper Elias Yacoub.
A depleted Mount Martha lost 2-0 away to Bunyip District.
There are no local State League sides involved in this weekend’s catch-up round so all eyes turn to Saturday’s VPL1 clash at Lawton Park between Langwarrin and Manningham United Blues.
NEXT WEEKEND
Saturday, 14 June, 3pm
Langwarrin v Manningham Utd Blues, Lawton Park
