SOCCER PENINSULA Strikers are back on the promotion trail after a stunning 7-0 thrashing of Heatherton United at Centenary Park on Saturday. Heatherton had gone into this State 2 South-East contest with just one loss this season but a first-half hat-trick from the outstanding John Prescott had secured the points by half-time. Second half doubles from Josh Calle and Anton Vulic completed the whitewash. Strikers had lost three games heading into this clash and although they are just five points off the pace head coach Danny Verdun believes that there still is a lot of work ahead. “While we’re pleased…
Author: Craig MacKenzie
SOCCER MELISSA Maizels made her debut for local NPLW outfit Southern United on Saturday. The top-flight goalkeeper is the biggest signing in the club’s short history having played for Melbourne Victory and Perth Glory before recently completing her second stint with Canberra United in the 2018/19 W-League. She turns 26 next month and offers both expertise and experience to one of the youngest playing groups in the elite competition. At Canberra she played alongside Scotland captain Rachel Corsie and Matilda Ellie Carpenter. Maizels was signed from local rival Bayside United late last week and given the exodus of players from…
SOCCER WHAT Jonathan Crook did to Upfield last week was night-time robbery. The big man from Matamata Swifts effected a string of remarkable saves to keep Skye’s nose in front and keep Upfield’s onslaught at bay in a pulsating FFA Cup tie. Try as it might Upfield could not find a way past Crook and Skye held on for a 1-0 win that clinched one of 32 Victorian spots remaining in the 2019 national competition. This clash had to be replayed after a floodlight failure in the 70th minute at Aston Fields in Craigieburn had forced an abandonment a week…
SOCCER SOMERVILLE Eagles have secured significant grants from Mornington Peninsula Shire council. The promotion-chasing State 5 club understands that the council will spend $500,000 on clubrooms at Tyabb Central Reserve while also allocating $50,000 for a feasibility study which it hopes will identify a permanent home for the Eagles. “It’s not official yet but we understand that we’ve been granted the money which is great news for our club,” president Luke Mulder said. The Tyabb Cricket Club shares the reserve and will also benefit from a clubroom upgrade. The feasibility study will centre on Clarendon Reserve in Somerville and will…
SOCCER MORNINGTON head coach Adam Jamieson expects Casey Comets midfielder Brodie Paterson to receive a lengthy ban after a violent contest at Dallas Brooks Park on Friday night. Comets came from behind to win this State 1 battle 2-1 and send the home side to a third consecutive defeat which casts major doubt over its stated ambition of winning promotion to the 2020 NPL. But it was the controversial finish to this clash which stole the limelight. The club video appears to show substitute Paterson pushing opponent Sam Catherine to the ground late in the match then falling on top…
SOCCER LATE goals and a Mark Pagliarulo master class highlighted last weekend’s round of league games. Langwarrin had to wait until the 88th minute to break through against Box Hill United, goals in the 88th and 90th minutes salvaged a point for Frankston Pines while “Pags” scored four goals and set up one in an impressive Somerville romp. Both Langy and Box Hill had chances to break the deadlock at Lawton Park on Saturday but the decisive moment was engineered by a Damir Stoilovic corner to the near post and a Luke Burgess header. That was Langy’s fourth win of…
SOCCER FRANKSTON council re-turfed Monterey Reserve on Friday and the work was so extensive that Southern United was forced to call-off five matches scheduled for the venue on Saturday. The local women’s club plays at the elite level of the sport in Victoria and president Shannon Palmer was furious that no-one from council contacted her to tell her what was planned. “It’s a complete and utter debacle for us,” Palmer said on Sunday. “I don’t know why they didn’t contact us and tell us what they’d planned. “They contacted (co-tenant) Frankston Pines but they didn’t say what day they were…
SOCCER THE quest for glory among local State League teams begins in earnest this weekend when the 2019 season kicks off. Frankston Pines is keen to open proceedings on Friday night under the new Monterey Reserve floodlights but its State 3 clash with Monash Uni was awaiting Football Victoria approval as we went to press. Monash was drawn as the home team in this round one fixture but a ground availability problem encouraged Pines to apply to have the fixture reversed and held as its home game. Pines has been on a roller-coaster ride throughout the off-season twice having to…
SOCCER THE blue wave of Langwarrin engulfed much fancied opponent Bulleen at Lawton Park on Saturday and gave home fans a taste of things to come. Langy gaffer Scott Miller hasn’t hidden his ambition for the club he played for as a junior and his pre-season mantra of an up-tempo, slick, interpassing style of soccer rang true last weekend. Bulleen succumbed to the blue tsunami 4-1 in Langwarrin’s most impressive performance yet of the 2019 NPL2 East season. Spectators had been given an insight into Jordan Templin’s capabilities with two stunning goals against Northcote a fortnight back and he continued…
SOCCER SKYE United’s FFA Cup journey took a dramatic twist on Saturday when it came from two goals down to beat Monbulk Rangers 4-3 at Centenary Park. Monbulk had beaten Skye in the promotion race from State 3 last season and came into the clash as a firm favourite. But things didn’t go Monbulk’s way when injury forced Declan McAleese to be replaced by Cameron Poynter after just 14 minutes. Four minutes later Daniel Walsh’s lethargy in pushing up from defence allowed Poynter to beat the offside trap and hammer the ball past Skye keeper Jonathan Crook for the opener.…
SOCCER BAXTER soccer club discovered 14 heroes on Saturday and set a benchmark of commitment for the upcoming season that threatens to silence the naysayers and confound its critics. In one of the most remarkable stories of the FFA Cup the local club overcame enormous odds to record a 3-2 victory after 120 minutes of gut-busting effort. Here was a club that a few days earlier was facing the possibility of having to forfeit this fixture. Worse still rumours abounded about players leaving and forcing the committee to withdraw its senior and reserve teams from State 4 South. Senior coach…
SOCCER SOUTHERN United kicks off the 2019 season against one of the most cashed-up outfits in the NPLW when it hosts South Melbourne’s imposing women’s team at Monterey Reserve on Saturday. It is a massive challenge for a team that created records last season for all the wrong reasons finishing last in the elite competition with a solitary point having scored five goals and conceding 188. South Melbourne in stark contrast finished on top of the ladder and lost the Grand Final 3-1 to Bulleen. And Southern’s preparation has been far from ideal. “We go into the season with just…
SOCCER LANGWARRIN kicks off the most anticipated season in the club’s recent history when it hosts Melbourne City at Lawton Park on Saturday at 3pm. The spotlight has shone on the local club ever since it made the surprise announcement last August that Scott Miller had been appointed head coach. Few expected the former Fulham assistant manager and Newcastle Jets boss to step down from professional to semi-professional ranks but his appointment raised the bar markedly in terms of expectations for the 2019 season. Langy has backed Miller with a host of new signings and the establishment of the club’s…
SOCCER ROSEBUD has had its application to join State League 5 accepted by Football Victoria and it will compete in the South division in 2019. And club president Melissa Osorio confirmed last weekend that merger talks with neighbouring Rosebud Heart are ongoing. “At the moment we’re going through the 2019 season ticking all the boxes and working with Football Victoria and Rosebud Heart and looking to the 2020 season (to merge),” Osorio said. Rosebud returned to competition under the state federation’s banner last year finishing second in Metropolitan 2 South-East. The previous time the club played under the controlling body…
SOCCER IT’S Mornington’s dream team and the one that the Seagulls hope will take them into the upper echelons of Victoria’s elite club competition. Senior coach Adam Jamieson calls himself “a winner” and assistant Nathan Peel calls himself “a builder”. They both have strong grounds to support their claims, Jamieson having won championships with Mornington and bringing a high expectation of success to the club while Peel has earned a reputation as one of the pre-eminent teachers and developers of young players in the local game. Peel’s CV says it all having played as a professional with Preston North End,…
NEW ZEALAND international Luka Prelevic trained with Aspendale Stingrays last Thursday and the State 5 South outfit is making an audacious bid to sign him. If it succeeds it will have completed the signing coup of the season as Prelevic is only 23 years old and it is unprecedented for a top-flight player of that age to drop down six league levels. Prelevic has been on the books of Port Melbourne and Melbourne City and last season made 19 appearances for Pascoe Vale, which finished fourth on the NPL ladder. He was in New Zealand’s under-23 squad that competed in…
SOCCER PETER Blasby is the new goalkeeping coach at Langwarrin. Former Langy star and club vice-president Chris Jones was forced to step down from the post due to work commitments. Blasby has already had a stint as Langy goalkeeping coach as well as assistant coach of the reserves. He boasts a celebrated playing career at Frankston Pines, Albion Rovers, Heidelberg United, Melbourne Croatia (Knights), Morwell Falcons and Croydon and he was selected in Melbourne Knights’ Team of the Century. Blasby is widely acknowledged as one of the best specialist coaches in Victoria and the list of goalkeepers who have benefitted…
SOCCER THE seventh staging of the Wallace Cup and a glut of pre-season matches are top of the local soccer agenda. The 2019 Wallace Cup will be hosted by Baxter and will take place on Saturday 2 February. The annual event is a celebration of the local game and honours Stephen William Wallace, Langwarrin life-member and former club president, committeeman, coach, player and Bayside League referee who died on 19 July 2011 at the age of 54. Event organiser and Langwarrin president Tanya Wallace was disappointed recently when Casey Comets told her they would not be competing but NPL2 West…
SOCCER GARY Hodgson’s legacy to Frankston Pines may be the greatest gift of any president in the club’s history. He was the driving force behind a push that started off with a successful bid for a grant to build new female-friendly changerooms and ended with local council approval for a $3.4 million rebuild of the facilities at Monterey Reserve. Yet Hodgson sees things differently. “Unfortunately after seven years if you can’t attract people onto the committee … all we’d done was to help the club survive but we wanted to help it grow and we didn’t do that,” he said.…
SOCCER WILLIE Lynn and wife Liz have been involved with Seaford United since 1978 and have no plans to step aside soon. Willie is in the 12th year of his second stint as president having previously completed 10 years in charge while Liz has had several stints on the committee and turned her hand to almost every volunteer job at the club. “I’m the cleaner, the shopper and the washer upperer,” Liz said. “I wash both the kits for the seniors and reserves, I cook for them after training on Thursday nights and I help run the bar.” North Seaford…
SOCCER LANGWARRIN has signed Wayne Wallace from Oakleigh Cannons as it gears up for an assault on the NPL2 East title. The 33-year-old midfield general has been released from the final year of his deal at Jack Edwards Reserve and is now part of Langwarrin gaffer Scott Miller’s major overhaul of the senior squad. It is a massive signing for Miller and a clear statement of intent – Langwarrin is targeting promotion to the premier club competition in the state. If it achieves that goal it will become only the third local club to have done so after Frankston Pines…
SOCCER HARRY Chalkitis is a man on a mission and for Southern United’s sake let’s hope it’s not mission impossible. Two-time Victorian Coach of the Year, former men’s state team coach, head coach of Bentleigh Greens and Port Melbourne, head coach of Victoria Vision in the women’s NSL, head of Victoria’s National Training Centre women’s program … The list of coaching credits goes on and on but right now Chalkitis is focused on a major challenge as Southern United technical director and it’s one he is meeting head-on. “Football is all about results and we have to be results focussed,”…
SOCCER ADAM Jamieson is close to finalising a senior squad which he believes can take Mornington into the NPL. While other local clubs have been announcing new signings in a piecemeal manner Jamieson has quietly gone about the business of overhauling his playing staff and he’s pleased with the outcome. Last week the club took to social media to name the 14 players already secured for next season. “It’s a pretty strong squad on paper but we know what on paper means and until you go out there and do it then it doesn’t mean much,” Jamieson said. He’s known…
SOCCER LANGWARRIN has successfully fended off overtures from other NPL clubs and has agreed terms with striker John Kuol for a second straight season. And while Mornington looks set to sign Langy striker Liam Baxter it may lose attacking midfielder Sammy Orritt and striker Max Etheridge. Dandenong City was among a number of clubs interested in Kuol but the opportunity of being coached by former Fulham assistant manager and Newcastle Jets head coach Scott Miller was too good to refuse. “It was a no-brainer really,” Kuol said. “I wanted the chance to be coached by someone of Scott’s experience plus…
SOCCER DANNY Verdun has thrown down the gauntlet to opposition clubs in State 2 South-East declaring that Peninsula Strikers will win the championship next season. Recently appointed as head coach of the Centenary Park club Verdun addressed an audience of mainly current and prospective players last Thursday evening at Strikers’ home ground. Over 70 people attended and listened intently as Verdun told them what he expected from his players. “It doesn’t matter how old you are or your output as a footballer this is all about the attitude you bring to this club,” Verdun said. “If the attitude and hunger…
SOCCER BAXTER and Frankston Pines have hit the ground running with preparations for next season. Last week Baxter announced that Robert Mathieson was the new assistant to head coach George Hughes while the makeover of the Pines squad by gaffer Kevin “Squizzy” Taylor got underway in earnest. Mathieson played with Mulgrave, Croydon, Springvale City and Dandenong City before joining Langwarrin 27 years ago eventually becoming a long-serving assistant to legendary senior coach Gus Macleod. He spoke to other local clubs before accepting an offer from Baxter gaffer George Hughes. “I get on well with George and we share the same…
SOCCER ASPENDALE Stingrays have millions of reasons to hope that the Andrews government is re-elected at the upcoming state poll. A proposed four-pitch multipurpose complex with new pavilion and car parking at Kerr Crescent Reserve in Aspendale Gardens would secure the club’s future and provide the springboard for growth envisaged by the current administration. There has been no shortage of good news for the Stingrays recently as Football Victoria named Aspendale the 2018 Club of the Year at a gala luncheon on Friday. Just five clubs from throughout the state made the shortlist for the prestigious award which recognises the…
SOCCER A DAMAGING presidency battle was averted last week after Steve Spencer was elected at an extraordinary general meeting at Frankston Pines. It had been widely expected that former vice-president Daniel Plaiche and recent interim president Hamdija “Boz” Osmancevic would run against each other but neither party turned up to the meeting. Osmancevic had been the only candidate for president a fortnight earlier at the club’s AGM but stood down after a dispute erupted about his managerial style forcing last week’s meeting to settle the impasse and elect an executive. Rumours flew about Osmancevic’s intentions and involved speculation about a…
SOCCER SKYE United, Baxter, Peninsula Strikers and Southern United have announced their senior coaches for the 2019 season. Skye appointed former Langwarrin midfielder Phil McGuinness last weekend. Peninsula Strikers announced last Wednesday that former Frankston Pines and recent Knox City coach Danny Verdun was taking over and the following day Baxter announced that George Hughes had been appointed as head coach. Southern United announced the appointment of Washington Castillo as senior coach last Friday. McGuinness is a former Skye player and assistant coach who joined the club after playing with Langwarrin and coaching the reserves at Lawton Park to the…
SOCCER FRANKSTON Pines’ future hangs in the balance after last week’s AGM left the club without a president. “Boz” Osmancevic, interim president since August, was the only candidate for the position and after accepting the nomination he outlined how he wanted to run the club which sparked argument and the ensuing turmoil left Pines in limbo. As reported last week the only member of the “old guard” that Osmancevic wanted on his committee was Tommy Mitchell. However, long-serving administrator Steve Spencer was the only nomination for vice-president and his acceptance presented Osmancevic with a problem. It was resolved in farcical…