SOCCER BRETT Heskins may have played his last senior game for Skye United. And he could join a growing list of departures from the local State 2 South-East club. Boris Ovcin has retired, Jason Nowakowski is thinking about the lesser demands of the club’s Bayside team as is first-choice keeper Jonathan Crook while Alex Van Heerwarden is assistant coach to Ben Caffrey with Langwarrin’s under-23s. “That’s a lot of quality and experience right there,” Heskins said. “If ‘Jono’ goes it will be a huge loss because he is a phenomenal shot-stopper. “Unfortunately we’ve had to rely on him more than…
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SOCCER RYAN Paczkowski has reunited with Mornington gaffer Adam Jamieson while Langwarrin has signed WA-based goal ace Joe O’Brien. And both Frankston Pines and Somerville Eagles have settled on the men to head up their coaching staff for the upcoming season. Paczkowski turned 34 this week and the ex-Bentleigh Greens, Oakleigh, Langwarrin and Preston player last played for the Seagulls in 2017. He played for Preston Lions last season and could have stayed there but agreed terms for a second stint at Bentleigh before a change in his work circumstances forced him to head back to Dallas Brooks Park. “I…
SOCCER LOCAL coaching legend Gus Macleod is the new gaffer of ambitious State 4 outfit Chelsea. Macleod ended a five-year senior coaching hiatus when he agreed terms with Chelsea a fortnight ago. He was last in charge of a senior team in 2018 when he completed his 20th straight season at Langwarrin. Since then he has worked as a technical director at Lawton Park but the lure of the Chelsea post was impossible to ignore. “I never lost that itch that urge to coach senior players,” he said. “I enjoyed coaching the coaches at Langy but the Chelsea job just…
SOCCER SAMMY Orritt has rejoined Mornington after playing in the NPL with Langwarrin and Eastern Lions. The 30-year-old dynamo agreed terms last week and could be joined by more new signings shortly. Orritt’s football odyssey started in California at the age of three after business reasons prompted his family to move to the US from Doncaster in England. He is the best-travelled footballer on the peninsula having paraded his skills on pitches in England, Scotland, the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. His first stint at Dallas Brooks Park started during the 2017 season when he arrived from NZ outfit…
SOCCER STATE 4 South outfit Chelsea has lured high-profile coaching guru Stuart Munro to its ranks. The local club announced his arrival as technical director late last week. Munro boasts a celebrated career both as a professional footballer and coach. The Scot played with St Mirren and Alloa before establishing himself with Glasgow giant Rangers where he played for seven and a half years. He also played with Blackburn Rovers and Bristol City before coming to Australia in 1997 to join Sydney United. Munro’s coaching CV includes stints at Gippsland Falcons, Carlton, Parramatta Power, South Melbourne, Oakleigh Cannons, Dandenong Thunder,…
SOCCER BAXTER has reached a fork in the road and its future direction could decide whether head coach Stephen Fisher remains at the State 4 club. Preliminary talks between club and coach took place last week and got off to a positive start. “If we had won promotion under the current set-up it would have been like going into a gunfight with a knife,” Fisher said. “There wouldn’t have been a happy outcome and we would have been fighting relegation throughout the State 3 season.” That’s a reference to the absence of a playing budget. Simply stated Baxter has to…
SOCCER FRANKSTON Pines remain hopeful of escaping relegation from State 2 South-East despite finishing second bottom after last weekend’s final league round. Goals from Tom Hawkins and Joe O’Connor weren’t enough to overcome second-placed Brandon Park and Pines had to settle for a 2-2 draw at Freeway Reserve on Saturday. The 2023 rules of competition make grim reading for Pines but all promotion and relegation is at the discretion of Football Victoria and a number of scenarios are yet to be played out. “No-one really knows what lies ahead,” Pines head coach Kevin “Squizzy” Taylor said. Rumours abound of a…
SOCCER SCOTT Miller won’t coach Langwarrin next season. The Lawton Park club made the announcement last week after scheduled talks between Miller, president Tanya Wallace and main sponsor Greg Kilner due to be held at the end of the season were brought forward. Miller’s last match as head coach was Saturday’s 2-1 home win over Brunswick Juventus a result that confirmed the visitors’ relegation. Goals from Brad Blumenthal and Tom Youngs sealed Juve’s fate but its cause wasn’t helped by the straight red brandished at Mathew Whatley in the opening seconds of the second half. Miller’s first match at the…
SOCCER MENTONE has secured promotion from State 5 South after Saturday’s 1-0 home win over Mount Martha. Jason Grieve’s men have locked-in a second-placed finish with two rounds to go due to upcoming byes for Rosebud and Seaford. A bullet header from Marcus Spivey in the 7th minute clinched the win last weekend. Grieve believes that player depth was pivotal to the senior team’s success. “When we’ve had players missing we’ve been able to move players to different positions and call on players from our reserves who have more than held their own,” Grieve said. “I put that down to…
SOCCER CARLO Melino’s six-year stint as senior coach at Chelsea will end when the final whistle blows for the 2023 season. Last Friday’s 7-1 home defeat at the hands of a rampaging Baxter outfit had no bearing on the decision as Melino told the club’s board and the players that he will be stepping down a fortnight ago. “It’s just getting too hard to combine family life and football and I need to be there for my three kids,” Melino said. “I’ve been coaching for the best part of 15 years. “I joined Chelsea at the end of 2017 and…
SOCCEROO Archie Thompson loves taking his own children to soccer training and weekend matches. He’s now using his football knowledge to develop a program aimed at promoting soccer’s fun and enjoyment to other youngsters. He was at Padua College in Mornington on Friday promoting his Archie Thompson School of Soccer, which is aimed at teenagers who are already playing at school or a club, or those keen to give soccer a try. “I have often been approached to be part of holiday and after-school soccer programs, although I have never found the one that really fitted the way I thought…