SOCCER
LANGWARRIN will have a new president at October’s AGM after Tanya Wallace steps down.
Wallace became the club’s first ever female president and the youngest in the club’s history when first elected in 2014.
She served for two years before handing the reins to John Heskins in 2016 then returned to the helm at the 2018 AGM.
“I’m tired and it’s time to hand over to someone with a fresh perspective to see what they can achieve,” Wallace said.
“I’ve achieved most of what I wanted to achieve but I don’t know what’s next so I need to step back and have some personal time and re-align my goals.”
Wallace sees the carpark and Barrett’s Road developments as major successes of her presidency but would have liked to increase the amount of pitch space and redevelop the clubrooms.
She also takes pride in her stewardship of the club throughout the COVID pandemic.
“We tried to ensure that we kept our membership base by doing the right thing by them and keeping the doors open to do what we could financially to remain stable when we came out of COVID.”
Wallace won’t be drawn on a possible successor other than to say she has a person she believes would do well as her replacement “but that’s for the members to decide not me.”
That person takes over a club in a strong position.
“I think we have the structure to support the club’s longevity but at the moment we are close to the point where we have to limit the amount of teams due to space,” Wallace added.
“We’ve superseded the opportunities we offered young players 10 years ago and we should be proud of that.
“Scott Miller was my biggest motivator for getting the infrastructure projects started.
“He wanted better facilities for players and demanded – in a good way – the best platform for his team and for that I really do owe him.”
Going into last weekend’s NPL2 round Langwarrin was just three points ahead of second-bottom Brunswick Juventus with three games remaining.
But despite recent on-field hiccups Wallace’s confidence in the players was unwavering.
“We have a fantastic group of young men at our club and some of them have grown personally and as footballers so much in the past year,” she said.
“I’m very grateful to have these players at our club and I can’t fault their effort so I’m hopeful that we’ll get the points we need in the next few weeks.”
Her words rang true last weekend as Langwarrin almost certainly secured its NPL2 status with a stunning 5-1 away win over Melbourne City.
Melbourne was reduced to 10 men after nine minutes when Ryan Kalms was shown a straight red for a last-man challenge on Tom Podaridis and goals from Archie Macphee (2) and Cal Goulding sent Langy in at the break leading 3-1.
A second-half brace to substitute Jacob Brito rounded off a dominant display.
Melbourne’s dismal day was compounded when Emile Peios was shown a second caution late in the contest and joined Kalms on the sidelines.
In State 1 Mornington responded to the challenge of promotion rival Eltham Redbacks with one of its best displays of the season in Saturday’s resounding 6-2 win at Dallas Brooks Park.
The Seagulls were switched on from the outset and led 2-0 after 12 minutes with precision finishes from Rory Currie and David Stirton after the visitors’ defence was pressured into mistakes.
Billy Romas hit back for Eltham in the 32nd minute but just before half-time the goal of the match restored Mornington’s momentum.
Ziggy Razuki’s left foot delivered a free-kick played at pace and curled in behind the Eltham defence for Stirton to power home a header that left Eltham keeper Abdulkerim Koc helpless.
Eltham was back in the contest in the 67th minute courtesy of a fine left-foot volley from just outside the area by substitute David Antequera.
Three minutes later Stirton won back the ball on the right and whipped in a superb cross for Shaun Kenny to sidefoot home first time to restore Mornington’s two-goal cushion.
Luke Burgess put Eltham out of the contest in the 79th minute capitalising on its inability to clear from a long throw-in and slamming the ball in from close range.
In the 89th minute Currie motored down the left then delivered an inch-perfect cross for substitute Kane Bentley to head past Koc to complete the Seagulls’ powerful performance.
In State 2 Peninsula Strikers did Skye United and Frankston Pines a huge favour by winning 2-1 away to Berwick City last weekend.
Both Strikers’ goals came from Riley Anderton.
His first was a header in the 39th minute following a Campbell Steedman cross from the left.
His second in the 63rd minute saw him pounce on the rebound after Berwick keeper Nick Caccamo saved a Cooper Andrews’ shot.
Berwick’s sole reply came three minutes into injury time.
A feature of the match was the display by 17-year-old Billy Rae who was making his full senior debut.
“He started in the middle of the park and was superb. Didn’t look at out of place at all,” Strikers’ head coach Scott Morrison said.
Skye lost 2-1 at home to Heatherton United on Saturday while Pines lost 3-2 at home to Doncaster Rovers on Friday night – results that keep Skye and Pines in ninth and tenth spots respectively as Berwick remains second bottom with Heatherton last.
Berwick faces away games against Pines and Skye in the next two rounds.
In State 4 third-placed Somerville Eagles had to settle for a point when they drew 2-2 at home to struggling Lyndale United on Saturday.
Lyndale went 1-0 up after two minutes when a soft foul from Josh Simmons saw the referee point to the penalty spot and Lucas Whiteside converted.
The home side hit back in the 28th minute when a Jake Meggs cross from the left found Marcus Anastasiou free at the back post and he headed home.
The second half was much like the first with Somerville dominating but struggling to find a way past Lyndale keeper Michael Napolitano.
It took something special to beat him and Tom Simmons delivered in the 72nd minute.
A free-kick was sent into the box and with his back to goal Simmons executed a miraculous bicycle kick which stunned both sets of fans.
Somerville searched for a third but was ultimately punished in the 84th minute when a miscommunication in the box led to a goalmouth scramble from which Lyndale substitute Max Khalaf equalised.
Adam Bartosy scored for Chelsea in its 3-1 away loss to Springvale City on Saturday while FC Noble Hurricanes forfeited its away clash with Baxter claiming it couldn’t field a team.
In State 5 Rosebud and Aspendale drew 0-0, Seaford United won 2-1 away to Mount Martha, Mentone had a 7-0 away win over Pakenham United while Mount Eliza lost 5-1 at home to Casey Panthers.
Harry McCartney reports that a Josh Vega strike into the top corner from just inside the area gave Seaford the lead after 22 minutes at Civic Reserve on Saturday.
Ten minutes into the second half Mount Martha hit back when James Price ran onto a long ball over the top and his mistimed shot wrong-footed Seaford keeper Hayden Hicks.
The winner came three minutes later.
Vega scuffed his shot which fell to Sam Luxford and he calmly slotted the ball past home-team keeper Derren Elliott.
On Friday night Mentone enjoyed a goalfest at IYU Reserve.
Marcus Spivey helped himself to four goals with the pick of the bunch a first-time strike from outside the area while Frankie Varsamis notched a hat-trick with two of his goals coming in the opening 10 minutes.
The only negatives for Mentone were a missed penalty by Spivey and a red card for Fraser Inglis.
This weekend is a catch-up round and the only local clubs in action are Somerville Eagles and Baxter who clash at Tyabb in a much anticipated derby.
NEXT WEEK’S GAMES
Saturday 5 August, 3pm:
Somerville Eagles v Baxter, Tyabb Central Reserve
First published in the Mornington News – 1 August 2023
