SOCCER LANGWARRIN, Skye United and Baxter are staring down the barrel of relegation. In a dismal season for local clubs only Mornington retains a genuine chance of promotion while Mentone already is relegated from State 6 and Mount Martha looks condemned to finish in the bottom two in State 7. Langwarrin blew a 2-0 lead at Lawton Park on Saturday and missed a golden opportunity to leapfrog opponent Brunswick City eventually going down 4-3 and ending a crazy helter-skelter VPL1 clash with just nine players. Langy led after seven minutes when Brad Blumenthal was at the back post to tap…
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SOCCER BAXTER and Chelsea face a day of reckoning when these State 4 rivals clash at Baxter Park on Saturday. It’s a do-or-die derby and one that will go some way to deciding their respective outcomes this season. The home side’s recent form is abysmal losing its last five games as it slowly but surely has been dragged into a relegation dogfight. Baxter’s matchday squad contains players who have played at a much higher level and the club is at a loss to explain why they are underperforming right now. As the players are inching closer to the relegation abyss…
SOCCER MORNINGTON secured a vital three points with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over a determined St Kilda at Elwood Park on Saturday. Chances were limited throughout the opening half as both teams remained disciplined and compact. The breakthrough came in the 39th minute when returning star Kieran Dover, back from suspension, rose highest to head home a pinpoint Lachie Candy free-kick to give Mornington a deserved 1-0 lead heading into half-time. St Kilda came out with real intent after the break throwing everything forward in search of an equaliser but Mornington’s defence stood firm, producing a disciplined and resilient performance…
SOCCER A WORLD-CLASS goal from Langwarrin striker Alun Webb was a highlight of a thrilling 3-3 draw with Melbourne Victory at Lawton Park on Friday night. The home side was 2-0 down and heading for another big loss when Webb struck. Victory fans were up and about in the 6th minute after Daniel Matina skipped past two opponents on the left then played Alex Lee in and he converted from close range. Things went from bad to worse for Langy in the 20th minute. It was caught on the break and a ball played in behind the defence from the…
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…
SOCCER IN A miserable weekend for local clubs there were just four winners from round 13 of the State league season – Chelsea, Seaford United, Mount Eliza and Aspendale. Three of them are mounting serious promotion campaigns while Seaford is hopeful of finishing the back half of the season in style. Chelsea is in second spot in State 4 just four points behind Springvale City and maintained its promotion momentum with Saturday’s 3-0 away win over Ashburton United. Chelsea came out of the blocks flying on Saturday and was three up after 23 minutes. Adam Dunsford struck first with a…
SOCCER LANGWARRIN’s resurgence continued in style with Friday night’s 5-0 trouncing of Port Melbourne at Lawton Park. In the last six weeks Langwarrin has won four games and drawn one while also keeping three clean sheets. “The past six weeks have provided the group with enormous confidence heading into the final eight rounds after the transfer window,” head coach Jamie Skelly said. “The league table has tightened considerably and our focus is on continuing to build momentum and put ourselves in a strong position to climb further up the ladder. “Our midfield has been outstanding in recent weeks with the…
SOCCER PENINSULA Strikers brought State 2 leader Knox City’s unbeaten run to a halt with Saturday’s 4-3 win at Centenary Park. Knox broke quickly in the fifth minute after Strikers lost possession in midfield and Alex Dimitriou had no problem converting from a one-on-one with Strikers keeper Jamie Walker. The home team hit back in the 22nd minute when an Oscar Colgate-Jones cross was headed home by Riley Anderton. The Kiwi striker was on target again in the 34th minute. Max Civil sent Matt Harrington down the wing and his cross found Colgate-Jones whose shot was blocked with Anderton pouncing…
SOCCER A REFRESHED Peninsula Strikers line-up recorded its second win of the State 2 season when downing Noble Park United 4-2 at Centenary Park on Saturday in a dominant display. Strikers’ boss Ross Walliss brought Hayden Schreck, Sam Delaney and recent signing Max Civil into the starting line-up. Civil, ex-Mornington, and former Chilean pro Angel Orellana were both announced by Strikers as new signings late last week. From the outset on Saturday Matt Harrington controlled the midfield for Strikers while Delaney capped off his energetic outing with a well-earned man-of-the-match performance. Strikers struck early when Oscar Colgate-Jones whipped a dangerous…
SOCCER MORNINGTON has signed former Wellington Phoenix youngster Lachlan Candy. The 20-year-old made his A-League debut in 2024 and has played four youth internationals for the All Whites. The attacking midfielder was playing with NPL heavyweight Oakleigh Cannons when the chance to switch to Dallas Brooks Park emerged. Cannons boss Chris Taylor wanted the youngster to have more senior game time and pointed him in Mornington’s direction. Former Seagulls player and current senior assistant Marinos Panayi watched the youngster train and play and recommended him to head coach Adam Jamieson. “He’s the best 20-year-old I’ve ever seen,” Panayi said. “And…
SOCCER SKYE United emerged from Saturday’s chaotic contest with Hampton East Brighton with a precious point after a six-goal thriller at Dendy Park. Both teams were searching for their first win of the season and the hosts were well on their way to breaking that duck when taking a 2-0 lead in the first half. HEB struck its first blow in the 33rd minute when Jay Leader headed home from a corner and 10 minutes later Joshua Frame flicked on his header from a free-kick to make it 2-0. Skye hit back on the stroke of half-time when Jason Nowakowski’s…
SOCCER SOMERVILLE Eagles have Tom Simmons to thank for their 4-3 away win over East Bentleigh on Saturday. He opened the scoring in the 17th minute with a moment of real quality latching onto a through ball and lobbing East Bentleigh keeper Adam Stone in style. Two minutes into the second half Sebastian Davies levelled but in the 53rd minute Troy Dekker regained the lead directly from a corner. Simmons made it 3-1 four minutes later with a crisp left-foot strike from the edge of the area. He completed his hat-trick in the 66th minute from the penalty spot but…
SOCCER A STUNNING eight-minute hat-trick to substitute Blake Hicks lit up North Seaford Reserve on Saturday. The veteran striker came off the bench against East Bentleigh in the 68th minute and scored in the 72nd, 78th and 80th minutes to end any hopes the visitors had of a comeback. Seaford had struck first when Jayden LeBron put Zain Ahmad through in the 27th minute and the latter finished from a one-on-one with East Bentleigh keeper Adam Stone. The home side went 2-0 up in the 35th minute when Matthew Cobb sliced his cross over Stone after a good Seaford build-up…
SOCCER BAXTER thumped Greater Dandenong 7-1 at WJ Turner Reserve last Friday night. The contest was a feisty affair with Baxter captain Cody Storton-French sent off in controversial circumstances a few minutes before half-time. Baxter led 1-0 from a Nicholas Brigo free-kick but a dreadful linesman’s decision allowed Greater Dandenong to level and led to Storton-French’s dismissal. Down to 10 men and scores tied at 1-1 Baxter produced a dominant six-goal second half that left its opponent in disarray. Brigo completed his hat-trick, Kyle Eichenberger got in on the act with a brace while Jai Power and Charlie O’Connell also…
SOCCER THERE are no local sides left in this year’s Dockerty Cup. The competition doubles as qualification for the prestigious Australia Cup but over Easter the three remaining local outfits were dumped from the knockout competition. Langwarrin lost 1-0 away to Westvale, Mornington lost 2-1 away to Western United and Skye United was thumped 5-0 at home by Brunswick Juventus. On the back of a short turnaround Langwarrin made eight changes to its starting line-up and the bench was made up of under-20 and under-23 players. It was a scrappy contest but an error from young Langy keeper Branten Kindler…
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…
SOCCER MORNINGTON set out on the long haul to VPL glory with a convincing 3-0 win over Collingwood City last weekend. The match was played at Civic Reserve which Mornington will use for State 1 South-East home games this season while a major redevelopment of its usual headquarters at nearby Dallas Brooks Reserve takes place. This was a composed and clinical display by the Seagulls who lifted their intensity after an even first half and the impact of their substitutes proved significant. They broke the impasse in the 64th minute when Keiran Dover finished a well-worked move heading home a…
SOCCER THREE local teams remain in the Dockerty Cup after last weekend’s third preliminary round. Langwarrin, Mornington and Skye United will fly the flag for peninsula football. Skye is at home to Brunswick Juventus, Langy is away to Westvale and Mornington is away to Western Unted in round 4 ties which are expected to be played over the Easter weekend. Last Saturday Mornington strolled to a 5-0 Cup win over Moonee Ponds with goals from Ryan Paczkowski, Kieran Dover, Campbell Steedman, Natthan Sim and Kosta Droutsas. The tie was over at half-time with Mornington leading 4-0. Skye beat Baxter 3-1…
SOCCER IT’S been an interesting week in the life of Peninsula Strikers president Adrian Scialpi. He was away at work last week only to be thrust into an administrative maelstrom upon his return. We can only imagine his reaction when told that his club was no longer a member of Football Victoria and therefore couldn’t participate in the second preliminary round of the Dockerty Cup. When the dust settled (and the smelling salts had taken effect) it laid bare a bizarre turn of events. Last November FV sent an email to senior and junior clubs with a form attached that…
SOCCER NEW signings for Rosebud, a first win of the season for Langwarrin while Peninsula Strikers and Baxter are on a Cup collision course. These were the main stories to emerge in the last week as Rosebud gaffer Jason Symonds put his men through their paces twice in 48 hours with friendlies against Skye United on Thursday night and Mount Eliza on Saturday evening. On Thursday night Rosebud went down 4-2 to its State 1 host. A stunning free kick from Charlie Gunning and a fine finish from Connor Wharton enabled Rosebud to go in 2-2 at the interval but…
SOCCER ELLIOTT Craig has joined Rosebud, Nathan Yole has switched to Frankston Pines while Jordy May and Jacob Pay debuted for Baxter last weekend. It’s the time of year when State League clubs ramp up their wheeling and dealing on the player market as they zero in on the kick-off to their league campaign next month. Elliott, 21, had a breakout senior season last year with Skye United finishing with six goals, one behind the club’s top scorer Varmah Mgoneh. But a heart-to-heart discussion with Skye gaffer Phil McGuinness at season’s end prompted him to look elsewhere. “He was very…
SOCCER ALANA Murphy’s switch to Nottingham Forest and the start of the VPL1 season are under the spotlight this week. Murphy, 20, is a Langwarrin prodigy who joined the English WSL2 side last week from SC Sand in Germany’s Bundesliga 2. Forest wasted no time in cinching the deal. “They reached out to my agent in search of a centre midfielder and when he sent through my profile they seemed to like what they saw and straight away they made an offer,” Murphy said. Nottingham Forest head coach Carly Davies couldn’t hide her enthusiasm over Murphy’s capture. “Alana is an…
SOCCER RYAN Woolf and Patrick Briggs were announced as new signings by local State 2 and State 4 clubs respectively last week. Both have been plucked from State 5 competition last year with Woolf winning Pakenham United’s best and fairest while Briggs was an ever-present in East Bentleigh’s State 5 East championship-winning side. Woolf has joined Peninsula Strikers while Briggs has switched to Chelsea. Strikers’ joint coaches Ross Wallis and Stephen Duffy have been forced to rebuild the senior squad after an exodus of players following the resignation of head coach Scott Morrison. Strikers have flirted with promotion for the…
SOCCER JACK Elliott’s return to Baxter and the second annual Billy Baldwin Memorial Day are upcoming highlights on the local scene. Elliott has been a wanted man ever since walking away from the sport to concentrate on HYROX, a global fitness racing sport that combines eight kilometres of running with eight functional workout stations creating a consistent, indoor challenge testing strength, endurance and stamina. He has qualified for the Pro singles and Pro doubles events at the world championships in Switzerland in June and will be part of an Australian contingent expected to number over 100 at the prestigious event.…
SOCCER THERE was never much doubt that Phil McGuinness would be offered the Skye United job for next season following this year’s dramatic league finale. Against great odds and with probably the smallest budget in State 2 McGuinnes and his players snatched second place and promotion in a drama-filled final round of league games. It was Mick Stevens’ first season as Skye president following the resignations of long-serving president Daren Jones and vice-president Stuart Lawrence earlier in the year. The two leading administrators anointed Stevens as the man to lead the club into a new era and he didn’t let…
SOCCER PENINSULA football is set for the creation of a new power club with last week’s announcement of a planned merger between State 4 South-East club Rosebud and local junior club Rosebud Heart. The new entity will be called Rosebud United and will compete in State Leagues in 2027. It is likely to field over 30 teams plus MiniRoos with established men’s and women’s programs. In a statement jointly signed by Rosebud president Delvina Spizzirri and Heart counterpart Rob Vosjan mention was made of a positive response to the merger from Football Victoria, Mornington Peninsula Shire and local state government…
SOCCER JEROME Valadon and Sonny Lindsay are the first new signings of the Ross Wallis-Stephen Duffy era at Peninsula Strikers. The Centenary Park outfit has been on the hunt for promotion from State 2 South-East for the past four seasons and joint coaches Wallis and Duffy hope to realise the club’s dream. The senior squad has held five training sessions but the reserve squad is yet to assemble as the club continues to search for a new reserves coach following Paul Nott’s departure. “We didn’t want to do an expressions of interest sort of thing and have all these lads…
SOCCER KALLISTA Tzelios is a force of nature. The Seaford United captain has taken the last three State League seasons by storm and at 24 years old has been lauded as one of the best players outside Victoria’s elite NPLW competition. But her story would have been so much different if not for the intervention of her mother Louise. Tzelios started playing with Seaford as a junior progressing to junior girls NPL with Southern United and making her senior debut with the now defunct Bayside United. But she didn’t enjoy her NPL experience. “I fell out of love with the…
SOCCER DAVEY Jones has been to hell and back – on and off the football field. He survived a vicious assault during an indoor soccer match in 2014 that left him in intensive care in the Alfred Hospital with a brain bleed and doubts that he could ever play again. “I scored and from the restart this guy ran over and started laying into me. “I couldn’t remember much about it but when I saw the CCTV footage it was completely unprovoked.” Jones was born in Frankston and started as a junior with Frankston Strikers before switching to Frankston Pines’…
Soccer PENINSULA Strikers star Cooper Andrews is a wanted man. He trained with State 1 side Mazenod early this week and he’ll be at Strikers training on Thursday but may return to his NPL junior club Kingston City now in VPL2. Cooper has spoken to new Strikers co-coaches Ross Walliss and Stephen Duffy without committing himself to staying at Centenary Park. Strikers’ rollercoaster 2025 season ended on a dramatic low when it could only draw 3-3 at home to Casey Comets handing promotion to neighbouring Skye United. “That last game was a lot to take and the emotions were all…