SOCCER
MOUNT Eliza maintained its promotion momentum with a 5-1 drubbing of Knox United in their State 6 clash at Carrington Park on Saturday.
The local club’s leading scorer is Michael Wright who added to his tally with a thunderous free kick in the 12th minute that left Knox keeper Divesh Kumar grasping at thin air.
The visitors went further ahead in the 25th minute.
Kumar parried Mujtaba Sakhi’s strike and Troy Buchanan-Ferguson kept the ball in play before placing his shot into the corner of goal.
When midfielder Noah Green scored the first of his two goals with a long-range effort in the 43rd minute there was no way back for the hosts.
Three minutes into the second half Sakhi pounced on a defensive error then struck the ball neatly into the top corner to make it 4-0.
Knox’s sole reply came in the 62nd minute in contentious fashion.
Mount Eliza defender Callum Drysdale was dragged down by the arm but there was no call by the referee.
The ball was cut back for Pranav Kutty to slot it into the bottom left corner.
Green’s second came in the 85th minute and it was another long-range effort to cap a fine display by the dynamic midfielder.
In other State 6 games Frankston Pines won 2-0 away to Bunyip District while Mentone lost 2-1 at home to Pakenham United.
Pines led after 12 minutes when a goal kick from Nick Ambor picked out Said Uygur who brought the ball down superbly then beat a defender before calmly slotting home into the bottom corner.
In the 36th minute Bunyip lost central defender Tynan North who was sent off after bringing down Nathan Yole and denying him a scoring opportunity.
Three minutes later Pines went further ahead when young wingback Tom Oswell beat a defender then pulled the ball back for Kenny Akalan to finish.
Both teams finished the match with 10 men after Pines lost Kane Ireson to a second yellow card in the 57th minute.
Mentone was 2-0 down when Osman Gowni pulled a goal back in the 59th minute but its task was made tougher when Rahman Afzali was cautioned then red carded in the 68th minute.
On a positive note Mentone signed Branko Durand last week and the former Eltham striker provided a much-needed target up front.
In VPL1 Langwarrin was trounced 6-1 by Eltham Redbacks at Lawton Park on Saturday.
Langy led in the 8th minute when a Lucas Portelli free-kick was parried into the path of Brad Blumenthal who drove it home from close range.
But Langwarrin’s defensive frailty was highlighted in the 35th minute when Finn Diamond head in from a corner and two minutes later Langy defender Ben Mason was robbed inside the box and the ball was squared to Marcus Day for the first of his three-goal haul.
Four minutes into the second half an Eltham corner was cleared but from just outside the box the ball was crossed to the back post and Billy Romas headed home.
In the 75th minute Day ran onto a through ball and made it 4-1 and completed his hat-trick eight minutes later with a diagonal run that synced perfectly with a reverse pass from Yianni Panakos before Day finished by beating Langy keeper Branten Kindler at the near post.
Former Melbourne Victory star Marco Rojas had the last word with a fine first-time finish in the 90th minute.
Langy recently lost defender Jeremy Min Fa and midfielder Kosta Apostolopoulos from its senior squad with Min Fa joining Beaumaris and Apostolopoulos joining Bayside Argonauts.
Scottish attacking midfielder Scott Lochhead is available for Friday night’s home game against Melbourne Victory.
In State 1 Mornington’s away clash with league leader South Springvale was washed out while Skye United was hammered 5-0 away to Boroondara Eagles.
Mornington now has three catch-up games against South Springvale, Collingwood City (away) and Banyule City (home).
Kieran Dover and James Kelly will miss Friday night’s derby with Skye but both should be back the following week.
Dover is suspended and Kelly is recovering from a hamstring injury.
For Skye things are grim given the club is involved in a relegation battle and has the poorest goals against record in the league.
To make matters worse Skye has lost two players from its senior squad with defender Hamish Millar joining Bayside Argonauts and goalkeeper Ittestu Hirai joining Springvale White Eagles.
In State 2 Peninsula Strikers claimed a late, hard earned 2-0 victory over Berwick City in a tense and often dramatic contest at Centenary Park last weekend.
The match’s first major flashpoint arrived in the 40th minute when Jerome Valadon and Berwick’s Ashley Slater were involved in a scuffle with both going to ground and Slater receiving a straight red.
As expected Strikers dominated possession in the second half but had to wait until the 92nd minute for a breakthrough.
Hayden Schreck collected a headed clearance in left midfield, beat his marker then threaded a ball in behind the defence.
Oscar Colgate Jones curled in a superb left footed cross and Max Civil rose above both defender and keeper to power home a towering header from close range.
A minute later Strikers struck again.
Colgate Jones pressured Berwick keeper Pedro Formosa into a miskick that spilled into midfield where Matt Harrington pounced, drove toward goal then calmly slotted the ball inside Formosa’s right post for the sealer.
Strikers signed James Parissis and Zac Palatsides from Kingston City on deadline day last week.
In State 4 Chelsea and Rosebud drew 1-1 in their derby clash at Edithvale Recreation Reserve on Saturday while Baxter had a shock 3-1 loss at home to Greater Dandenong.
On a difficult pitch both sides gave it their all with Rosebud going ahead in the 52nd minute thanks to a Mitch Blake header after Marcus Collier had flicked on a long throw from Ben Craig.
But Chelsea hit back in the 62nd minute with Liam Burford slamming the ball home from close range after Rosebud failed to clear.
The Budders featured new signing Tom Wood from Doveton.
Wood has been on the books of Mornington and Peninsula Strikers.
Baxter was abysmal against a team that had lost all 12 previous matches this season.
The visitors were 3-0 up before Baxter central defender Aiden McKenna scored.
Kyle Eichenberger failed to convert a second-half penalty in what was an insipid and spiritless performance from the home side.
In State 5 Somerville Eagles had a gritty 0-0 draw away to promotion candidate Monbulk Rangers while Seaford United lost 5-3 away to Lyndale United.
Dylan Waugh, Zain Ahmad and Blake Hicks scored for Seaford in a disappointing result for Paulo Pinheiro’s men.
In State 7 Aspendale won 3-0 at home to struggling Mount Martha.
Mitch Hodder opened the scoring in the 7th minute when he lashed home a left-foot shot from the edge of the box following a good combination involving Aidan Bannon and Ryan Mravljak.
It was Hodder at the double in the 26th minute after Mount Martha keeper Derren Elliott could only parry Mravljak’s long-range effort into Hodder’s path for a simple finish.
In the 79th minute 16-year-old Naoya Takahashi became the club’s youngest ever State League senior goalscorer when he prodded home a cross from Oscar Carter.
NEXT WEEKEND’S GAMES
Friday 10 July, 8.30pm
Langwarrin v Melbourne Victory, Lawton Park
Mornington v Skye Utd, Knox Regional Football Centre
Chelsea v Monash University, Edithvale Recreation Reserve
Saturday 11 July, 3pm
Riversdale v Baxter, Frog Hollow Reserve
Seaford Utd v Noble Hurricanes, North Seaford Reserve
Somerville Eagles v Lyndale Utd, Westernport Athletics Track
Mentone v Whitehorse Utd, Mentone Grammar Playing Fields
Brighton v Mount Eliza, Dendy Park
Old Melburnians v Frankston Pines, Robert Menzies Reserve
Mount Martha v Burwood, Civic Reserve
Keysborough District v Aspendale, Parkmore Soccer Club
Saturday 11 July, 6pm
Rosebud v Kings Domain, Olympic Park
Sunday 12 July, 3pm
Peninsula Strikers v North Caulfield, Centenary Park
