CHELSEA staged a stunning come-from-behind 3-1 win with 10 men against Ashburton United in their State 4 South-East clash last weekend.
Undermanned following the straight red shown to Adam Dunsford in the 67th minute in an off-the ball incident and down 1-0 the royal blues faced a mighty hurdle to record their opening win of the season.
Their get-of-jail-free card came in the form of East Bentleigh recruit Patrick Briggs whose two goals in five minutes turned this contest on its head.
In the 70th minute Briggs made Ashburton pay for not clearing from a corner and his firm low strike made it 1-1.
The 10 men hit the front five minutes later when Briggs cut in from the right and hammered another low shot that beat Ashburton keeper Josh Elford at his near post.
The exclamation mark on a superb comeback came in the 85th minute.
Michael Swinnerton played in ace scorer James Stinson who won the race to the ball with Elford.
Stinson was left with the simple task of stroking the ball into the unguarded goal and end Ashburton’s hopes.
In other State 4 news Baxter lost 2-0 at home to King’s Domain on Saturday.
Baxter featured a debutant in 19-year-old winger Nicholas Brigo signed from Bayside Argonauts.
Rosebud used last weekend’s bye for a friendly hit-out against Knox Churches.
The Buds won 3-0 with goals from Brad Vlachy (2) and Ben Craig.
Vlachy is a recent signing from WA club Inglewood.
In State 1 Mornington had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Boroondara Eagles at Civic Reserve last weekend.
The Seagulls went 1-0 down in the 27th minute when a short corner was crossed to the back post and Joe Coveney’s glancing header gave Mornington keeper Kane Runge no chance.
James Kelly came on at half-time and equalised in the 50th minute.
He was put through by Joe Hunt and took a touch before hammering a low shot past Boroondara keeper Ryan Ramsden.
Skye United marked its debut in State 1 with a 3-3 away draw to Doveton on Saturday night.
With Skye gaffer Phil McGuinness away for the best part of six weeks Alex Rojas and Trav Mitchell will be in charge for the opening part of the season.
The hosts led after eight minutes thanks to Zac Postrenga and should have gone further ahead 10 minutes later but sent their spot kick wide.
A frantic five minutes before half-time saw Skye earn a penalty which new recruit Marcus Spivey dispatched.
From the resulting kick-off Spivey put the visitors ahead after following up Varmah Mgoneh’s initial strike.
In the 65th minute Doveton drew level from the penalty spot when Sam Maggs converted but Mgoneh put the visitors back in the driver’s seat eight minutes later when he pounced on a loose ball to steer it into an unmanned net.
But the Doves grabbed a point 10 minutes from time with a superb strike from distance by Isaiah Joseph after Skye failed to clear its lines.
In State 2 Peninsula Strikers and Brandon Park drew 3-3 at Centenary Park on Saturday after some interesting refereeing decisions.
The day started badly when Tuach Ter came off with a hamstring injury but a minute later a superb Danny Brooks free-kick put the home side 1-0 up.
The home side went further ahead in the 35th minute when Brandon Park keeper Andrew Mensah couldn’t hold a Callum Bradbury shot and Riley Anderton made it 2-0.
Brandon Park hit back in the 53rd minute with a neat finish from Masee Namdar but five minutes later Strikers restored their two-goal cushion when Joel Bowen got in behind the visitors’ defence and finished well.
In the 72nd minute Brandon Park was awarded a controversial penalty which Joe O’Connor easily converted to make it 3-2.
The visitors applied the pressure and Strikers were hanging on until deep into time added when Stefanos Gerondaras scored and the spoils were shared.
In State 5 Somerville Eagles won 2-1 away to Sandown Lions on Saturday.
The visitors struck first when Tom Simmons played a long ball to Max Watson whose excellent first touch set him up to slot the ball past the advancing Sandown keeper.
Shortly after the home side levelled through Lul Puol whose corner was cleared back to him and he struck a fine shot from the edge of the box to make it 1-1.
Somerville’s winner came from Tom Simmons in his first game back from an ACL injury.
Around the 30-minute mark he linked with Tom Pollock who crossed and Watson laid the ball off for Simmons to slide it home.
Somerville will submit a report to Football Victoria with a critique of the performance of one of the official assistant referees along with Veo footage.
Seaford United remains winless after losing 4-2 away to Monbulk Rangers on Friday night.
Seaford was outplayed in the first half and came in at the interval facing a 3-1 deficit.
Matthew Cobb scored for Seaford in the 12th minute running onto Conor McFall’s through ball and finishing well.
The visitors made three substitutions at half-time and were more competitive in the second half but they only scored once through a Hassan Nazari penalty in the 55th minute after Zain Ahmed was brought down inside the box.
In State 6 Mount Eliza remains unbeaten after Saturday’s 2-0 away win over Pakenham United.
Mount Eliza’s opener came from the penalty spot in the 12th minute converted by Michael Wright.
The home side was kept at bay and its fate was sealed in the 89th minute when a poor headed clearance fell to Billy Gowans who volleyed truly to make it 2-0.
Frankston Pines lost 4-0 away to Whitehorse United and Mentone lost 7-2 at home to Old St Kevins.
Eric Ervine and Nikola Varga scored for Mentone.
In State 7 Aspendale made it back-to-back wins with Saturday’s 3-0 home success against Noble Suns.
Taylan Yildirim put the hosts in front in the 36th minute following a fine move with Kailan Smith and Mitch Hodder combining to set up Yildirim’s calm side-foot finish.
Suns pressed hard in the second half but couldn’t break through and in the 72nd minute after being brought down Hodder converted from the penalty spot by sending the keeper the wrong way.
Substitute Dylan Flavelle secured the points in the 84th minute when he raced onto a long ball and slotted it past the stranded keeper.
Mount Martha turned in a much more spirited performance than the previous week when drawing 2-2 away to Lilydale Montrose United last weekend.
Davey Jones put the visitors ahead early when he held off his opponent then slotted the ball into the far corner but just before half-time the Mariners were caught on the break and it was 1-1 at the interval.
The home side came out of the blocks quickly in the second period and took a 2-1 lead but Mount Martha hit back and had Lilydale Montrose on the back foot.
Their pressure was rewarded late in the game via a well-timed run and fine finish from Tom Brewster.
It was a positive sign for Mount Martha which is undergoing a major senior program rebuild under head coach Andy McCabe and football director Gary Talbot.
The club boasts modern facilities at its Civic Reserve headquarters and almost 600 players across its male and female programs.
If you are keen to try out you can attend senior men’s training on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7pm.
There are no league games this weekend due to the Easter break however the three remaining local clubs in the Dockerty Cup are in action.
NEXT WEEKEND’S CUP GAMES
Thursday 2 April, 8pm
Westvale v Langwarrin, McKechnie Reserve
Saturday 4 April, 1pm
Skye Utd v Brunswick Juventus, Skye Recreation Reserve
Western Utd v Mornington, Ironbark Fields
First published in the Mornington News – 31 March 2026
