SOCCER

BAXTER looms as a strong candidate for promotion among local State League clubs heading into this weekend’s first round of the 2023 league season.

While there’s been noise around the promotion chances of Mornington, Peninsula Strikers and Seaford United much of the off-season attention has focussed on the extensive makeover that has taken place at Baxter Park.

New head coach Stephen Fisher and assistant Hayden Taylor have overseen the introduction of 15 newcomers into a 23-man senior squad and all the new signings have come from clubs in higher leagues.

“To be honest the joint is bouncing,” Fisher said.

“The players have bought in to what we want to do here and there is definite belief in the group.”

Baxter looks particularly strong in midfield with Doveton recruit Damien Miskulin and Noble Park United recruits Aleks Dukic and Jonas Parra forming a formidable engine room.

Miskulin dropping down to State 4 from a regular start in NPL3 was a bombshell and surely the most hyped signing in the club’s history.

But the time for talk is over and the time for action has arrived and there is bound to be action aplenty when Baxter squares up to Chelsea on Saturday.

Their clash is one of three local derbies headlining the first round with Peninsula Strikers hosting Skye United and Seaford United desperate to mark its return to State League in a positive way when it takes on Mount Eliza at North Seaford Reserve.

Here are the local State League senior squads for 2023 with the previous club of new signings in brackets:

ASPENDALE STINGRAYS

GOALKEEPERS: Matthew Self, Joshua Mravljak. DEFENDERS: Noah Berends, Jordy Athanassiou, Taylan Yildirim, Lewis Wilhelm Marco, Paladin Calvino. MIDFIELDERS: Samuel Timuska-Carr, James Macnab, Matthew Leggett (c), Felix Hampson, Blake Rosenberg, Athavan Wijey, Jack Runciman. FORWARDS: Matthew Bruce, Dominic Paul, Kieran Hughes, Jared Kilmartin, Kailan Smith.

BAXTER

GOALKEEPERS: Jarrod Nardino (Frankston Pines), James Foster. DEFENDERS: Izaak Barr, Daniel Dissendorp, Daniel Fernandes, Liam Duff, Daniel Taylor (Frankston Pines), Dylan Fisher (Doveton), Brodie Jones (Frankston Pines), Tristan Stass (Frankston Pines). MIDFIELDERS: Joe Bucello, Brodie McMinimee, Jonathan Parra (Noble Park Utd), Damien Miskulin (Doveton), Aleks Dukic (c) (Noble Park Utd), Jakob Barlow (Box Hill Utd), Noah Green (Frankston Pines). FORWARDS: Lachie McMinimee, Keegan Myatt (Berwick City), Dallas McNeil (Brandon Park), Alex Piasentin (Noble Park Utd), Aiden McKenna (Frankston Pines), Dylan Murchie (Frankston Pines).

CHELSEA

GOALKEEPERS: Rhys Davies, Tom Carter, Calum McLauchlan. DEFENDERS: Luke D’Alessandro (c), Chris Neumann, Sam Dunn, Tim Koulouris, Ryan Scott, Marshall Dobson, Andre Lamattina, James Kelly (Monash Villareal), Harry Parker (Bentleigh Greens), Liam Pavlov. MIDFIELDERS: Connor Scott (vc), Nathan Boccari (vc), Dylan Scott, Adam Bartosy, Kyan Bissett, Danny Kenny, Arki Gantzos, Colin Whitehouse (Glen Eira), Santiago Perez. FORWARDS: Vinnie Van Dyk, Adrian Pace (Somerville Eagles), Diego Herrera (Noble Park), Hamish Dorigo, Lachlan Davies, Mitch Hammond, Lewis Roughton, Darcy Atkins.

FRANKSTON PINES

GOALKEEPERS: Colby Jones (Doveton), Pabel Rivera (Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, Colombia). DEFENDERS: Keegan Grealy, Ryan Ratcliffe, Christian Malgioglio, Tom Hawkins, Graham Hill, Deniz Karabadjak (Peninsula Strikers), Massimo Torre (Beaumaris), Kevin Brown. MIDFIELDERS: Anish Khem (Suva FC, Fiji), Joe O’Connor, Jamie Baxter, Calum Batey, Logan Johnston, Alex Bevacqua, Ahmad Jawadi (Dandenong Thunder), Hassan Nazari (Dandenong Thunder), Elham Amiri (Dandenong Thunder), Sayed Zakir (Richmond). FORWARDS: Aaran Currie, Dylan Waugh, Antonio Marcuccio (Berwick City), Jai Power (Peninsula Strikers).

MENTONE

GOALKEEPERS: Greg Lascaris (Whittlesea Ranges), Quinn Cartier. DEFENDERS: Zaidan Allie, Cameron Zamora (Dingley Stars), James Hilton, Tom Johnston, Alexander Mallamaci, Kogulan Sabaratnam, Frankie Varsamis. MIDFIELDERS: Matias Cantavenera, Joe Dunbar, Tyler Pollard, Max Dunn, Stefan Sepulveda, Samuel Jarvis. FORWARDS: Eric Ervine, Marcus Spivey, Dylan Taylor, Dean Gerszonovicz.

MORNINGTON

GOALKEEPERS: Fraser Maclaren (Langwarrin), Ethan Farrell (Melbourne Knights) Frankie Anderson (Port Melbourne), Kane Runge (Bentleigh Greens). DEFENDERS: Josh Heaton, James Clark (Beaconsfield Town, England), Travis Chalk-Hatton (Manningham Utd Blues), Satoshi Kurosawa (Caroline Springs George Cross), Liam Quinn (Bentleigh Greens), Ziggy Razuki, Barney Johnson, Sam Scott, MIDFIELDERS: Rhys Craigee, Danny Brooks, Brady Pollard (Bentleigh Greens), Shaun Kenny, David Stirton, Ben Symonds, Cooper Leopold. FORWARDS: Rory Currie (Tranent Juniors, Scotland), Mehdi Sarwari (Richmond), Kane Bentley, Adam Hester (Doveton), Tom Brewster.

MOUNT ELIZA

GOALKEEPERS: Samuel Green (White Star Dandenong), Jake Hill. DEFENDERS: Jayden De Jong (Peninsula Strikers), Joe Iline, Callan Kinder, Jimmi Liddle (Rosebud), Jordan Vacouftsis, Riley Van Zanden. MIDFIELDERS: Ray Amiri, Michael Clarke (Baxter), Conan Howett (Charlie Accies AFC, Scotland), Fraser Keon, Jarryd McMinimee, Lachie Mitchell, David Popa (Skye Utd), Tyler White (Frankston Pines). FORWARDS: Patrick Briggs, Billy Gowans (Mount Martha), Amir Osmancevic (Eastern Lions), Chris Parry (Rosebud), Matt Sestanovich.

MOUNT MARTHA

GOALKEEPERS: Derren Elliott, Dylan Elliott, Corey Pais (Rosebud). DEFENDERS: Howie Anderson, Neal Byrne, Mitch Cohen (Baxter), Blane Dickerson, Alex Hall, Campbell Leo, Bee Nitikorn (Kooyong Utd), Corey Riddle. MIDFIELDERS: Michael Durrance (Rosebud), Adam Martin, Eli Masterson (Mornington), Josh McMillian, Finn Tweedie. FORWARDS: Anton Beeby (Mornington), Mitch Hawkins, Davie Jones (Somerville Eagles), James Price, Ethan Sanderson, Jaden Taberner (Dandenong Thunder).

PENINSULA STRIKERS

GOALKEEPERS: Ben Caballero, Nathan Brown (Somerville). DEFENDERS: Nathan Prince, Andy McIntyre (Mornington), Stevie Elliott (Mornington), Ahmad Tabbara, Andrew Goff (Mornington), Jordy May (Mornington), Jacob Pay, Dave Petty. MIDFIELDERS: Calvin Delaney, Alex Whyte, Callum Bradbury, Huss Chehimi, Jamie Davidson (Mornington), Kosta Varkatzos (Bulleen), Nathan Tsimis, Jack Bradbury, Sam Delaney. FORWARDS: Riley Anderton, Campbell Steedman (Mornington), Cassius Delaney, Cooper Andrews, Moey Chehimi.

ROSEBUD

GOALKEEPERS: Colin McCormack (Peninsula Strikers). DEFENDERS: Stef Papaluca, Tom Donoghue (Langwarrin) Louis Bisogni, Jacob Bigg (Mornington). John Mcmanus, Doug Cunnison (Eltham Redbacks). MIDFIELDERS: Nathan Calle, Joe Donelly, Luka Varga (Mornington), Julien Dos Santos (Northern Falcons), Josh Lyle. FORWARDS: Davis Markulin (Skye Utd), Noah Musso, Jacob Markulin, Sean Donoghue.

SEAFORD UTD

GOALKEEPERS: Hayden Hicks (Rosebud), Bayleigh Caulfield (Rosebud), Caleb Parr. DEFENDERS: Aaron Vega (Glen Waverley), Alaistar Cook (Balmoral Derzelez), Callum Norton (Rosebud), Chris Sibson, Dan Hall, Jason Alizzi, Jack Wyer (Somerville), Josh De Baize (Waverley Wanderers), Marcus Haringcaspel, Nathan Meade (Middle Park), Tristan Pillar (Peninsula Strikers), Zac Johnstone. MIDFIELDERS: Andrew Packer, Caleb Goeby (Berwick Churches), Cory Osorio (Rosebud), Dan Mota (East Bentleigh), Esmat Ehsani (Richmond), Jack Carter, Jonas Harrasser (Peninsula Strikers), Khalil Bahrami (Richmond), Luke Murray, Serkan Kaynak, Yohannes Tadesse (North Perth Utd, WA). FORWARDS: Abraham Lueth, Blake Hicks (Rosebud), Callum Mitchell, Chris Moreel (Rowville), Josh Vega (Glen Waverley), Paul Aitchinson (East Bentleigh), Uche Ikogwe (Peninsula Strikers), Raholah Yousefi (Peninsula Strikers).

SKYE UTD

GOALKEEPERS: Jonathan Crook, Callum Hope. DEFENDERS: Billy Painting, Alex Van Heerwaarden, Brett Heskins, Michael Rovinson, Mohamad El Hassan, Boris Ovcin, Ali Ulum, Jack Buttery (Baxter), Naveed Ali (Barton Utd). MIDFIELDERS: Marcus Collier (c), Mark O’Connor, Harrison Michaelis, Dusko Erkalovic, Nahn Than (Whitehorse Utd), Alessio Izzo (Mornington). FORWARDS: Daniel Attard, Mitchell Blake, Lewis Gibson (Baxter), Jason Nowakowski, Leo Mcleod (Vasco Da Gama, South Africa).

SOMERVILLE EAGLES

GOALKEEPERS: Nick Bucello. DEFENDERS: Thomas Pollock, Connor Carson, Joel Wade, Ben Schmidt (Mount Martha), Jake Meggs (Frankston Pines). MIDFIELDERS: Conor Mcfall (c), Josh Simmons, Nick Simmons (Peninsula Strikers), Joe Simmons. FORWARDS: Tom Simmons, Ronnie Krishnan, Marcus Anastasiou (Skye Utd), Reilly Saffin, Guil Ribeiro, Peter Photopoulos, Xavier Apela.

In NPL2 news Langwarrin lost its first game of the season when it went down 3-2 to Eastern Lions at Gardiner’s Creek Reserve on Saturday.

Langy went ahead in the 37th minute after a quick break down the right from Josh Varga and Brad Blumenthal with the latter playing the ball to the back post and a sliding Archie MacPhee doing the rest.

But two minutes later it was 1-1 after a stunning long-range strike by Thomas Golding.

And the home side went in with a 2-1 lead at half-time after Carter Ramsay’s neat chip over Langwarrin keeper James Burgess gave Nick Niagioran a tap-in at the far post.

Six minutes into the second half it was 3-1 after Golding laid the ball off to Sam Orritt on the right whose far post cross was headed home by Milo Bisogni.

Langy keeper James Burgess stopped the home side going further ahead in the 71st minute when he saved Andrew Le Page’s penalty and five minutes into added time two Langy substitutes combined when Tristan Meaker bundled the ball over the line from a Lenny Gregory free kick to complete the scoreline.

In Australia Cup news the draw for the next round was held on Friday four days after Skye United became the fourth local club to reach this stage of the national competition when it shocked State 1 rival Collingwood City with a 3-1 victory at Carrum Downs Recreation Reserve.

Skye’s scorers were Leo McLeod (2) and Brett Heskins.

Here’s the draw for the next round with ties to be played midweek in early April:

Brandon Park v Langwarrin, Clifton Hill v Mornington, Frankston Pines v St Albans Saints, Skye Utd v Glenroy Lions.

Here are the results of some pre-season friendlies:

Mount Martha 3 (Mitch Hawkins, Jaden Tabener, Anton Beeby) Somerville Eagles 4 (Tom Simmons 2, Marcus Anastasiou, Xavier Apela); Mornington 4 (Rory Currie, o.g., Adam Hester, Rhys Craigie) Mazenod 2; Frankston Pines 0 Old Melburnians 1; Chelsea 1 (Hamish Dorigo) Aspendale 2 (Noah Berends, Kieran Hughes); Seaford Utd 3 (Uchenna Ikogwe 2, Cory Osorio) Boronia 1; Rosebud 7 (Noah Musso 3, Jason Markulin 2, Luka Varga, Sean Donoghue) Cerberus 2; Peninsula Strikers 2 (Riley Anderton 2) Elwood City 4; Frankston Pines 3 (Jamie Baxter, Antonio Marcuccio, Anish Khem) Dandenong South 2; Baxter 0 Ballarat 3.

First published in the Frankston Times – 14 March 2023