SOCCER
SKYE United pulled off the shock of the State 2 South-East season when it toppled ladder leader Hampton East Brighton 2-0 at Dendy Park on Saturday. Skye went in to this clash as a pronounced underdog against an unbeaten opponent boasting seven straight wins, five clean sheets and scoring the most goals in the league.
In stark contrast Skye had the most losses and goals against in State 2 and was third-last on the table. But the locals were boosted last week by the much-needed return of defender Brett Heskins and head coach Phil McGuinness elected to go with a more experienced forward line giving first starts of the season to Daniel Attard and Mitch Blake.
And it didn’t take long for that decision to be vindicated.
Just four minutes in Attard’s cross found Blake whose bullet header gave Hampton East goalkeeper Bernard Paris no chance. Skye created the better chances for the remainder of the half without converting and in the 38th minute former Skye player Delfin Mosibe Esara was given his marching orders for a late challenge sending the hosts into the main break with 10 men and a 1-0 deficit.
In the second half Skye faced a Hampton East onslaught but defended resolutely and applied the killer blow in the second minute of added time when two Skye youngsters combined. Substitute Austin Sporys looped a ball over the home team defence to fellow sub George Jeffs and his volley sparked celebrations among the Skye faithful.
This Friday night Skye plays host to Greater Dandenong.
The match is Skye’s annual John Ramsden Memorial round commemorating its 23-year-old former player who died in a car accident in May 2010. Both clubs will observe a minute’s silence in honour of John Ramsden in both the seniors and reserves fixtures.
Thanks to Skye’s remarkable performance last weekend State 2 local rival Peninsula Strikers has drawn to within a point of the ladder leader after Friday night’s 3-1 away win over Doncaster Rovers. This was an eventful and sometimes fiery contest on a poor pitch.
Just 12 minutes had elapsed when Doncaster’s Luca Perna was red carded for a tackle on Riley Anderton.
But the home side lifted and made Strikers work hard. Doncaster was awarded a penalty in the 34th minute after a cheap turnover saw the ball played through for Stefan Cardamone who went to ground from a challenge by Andy McIntyre. Cardamone scored from the spot. In the 40th minute Doncaster coach Damian Pagotto was sent off following a verbal exchange with referee Makis Loukeris and right on half-time the home side was reduced to nine men after Daniel Piazza’s late challenge on Jamie Davidson.
It was one-way traffic in the second half and in the 71st minute a superb Steve Elliott pass set up Andrew Goff who smashed the ball into the net. The go-ahead goal came 11 minutes later when Jaiden Madaferri found Anderton at the front post and the Kiwi striker hooked his first-time volley off the post and in. The final goal came in the 94th minute when McIntyre put Campbell Steedman through and he squared the ball to Noah Musso who made no mistake.
In VPL1 news Langwarrin lost 2-1 away to Eastern Lions on Saturday. The visitors created three good chances in the first 10 minutes but failed to capitalise and paid the penalty in the 18th minute when Jack Pope put the home side ahead after a quick breakaway. Eastern Lions extended their lead with a 73rd minute penalty converted by Omani Leacock and Langy striker Archie Macphee hit back with his penalty conversion in the 89th minute. Conjecture mounts as to whether Langwarrin striker James Kelly is on the move. It’s understood that Kelly has been made offers by a number of clubs.
In State 1 news Mornington won 1-0 at home on Saturday against Brandon Park in a solid defensive performance.
Shaun Kenny got the only goal of the game in the 30th minute when Ryan Paczkowski’s corner and a deflected header allowed the Seagulls’ midfielder to hammer home the loose ball.
Mornington recently parted company with one of its senior assistants when Chris Caponi resigned citing work commitments as the trigger for his decision. Caponi coached at Preston Lions before joining Mornington this year.
The Seagulls announced last week that former senior assistant Nathan Peel is their new junior NPL technical director. Peel played professionally with Burnley and Preston North End in England and has worked in Victoria as a development coach and senior assistant at both State League and NPL levels.
In State 3 Frankston Pines earned their first point of the season in a 2-2 away draw with fellow struggler White Star Dandenong on Friday night. Pines’ scorers were Sharmeit Sharma and Cassius Delaney. Pines’ vice-president Nathalie Maira was named last week by Football Victoria as one of its top volunteers. Maira’s recognition was part of the state federation’s acknowledgement of National Volunteer Week highlighting the contributions individuals make to various causes.
In State 4 Chelsea triumphed 3-1 in Saturday’s derby showdown with Somerville Eagles at Westernport Secondary College. Chelsea’s scorers were Daniel Lewis, Jarrah Clear and James Stinson while Tom Simmons replied for Somerville.
Mentone got back to winning ways with a 4-0 victory over hosts Brighton at Dendy Park on Saturday.
Peter Varsamis put the visitors in front after 25 minutes, expertly controlling a Dean Gerszonovicz cross to finish past Brighton keeper Ishaq Lakhdari. In the 36th minute Mentone keeper Quinn Carter made a stunning point-blank save turning Michael Fava’s low shot over the bar.
Mentone has struggled to find the net this season and passed up numerous chances to extend its lead before Adam Leander struck in the 77th minute. His run beyond the Brighton defence was rewarded by Marcus Spivey’s pass with Leander’s left-foot finish giving Fava no chance. Spivey got his goal and Mentone’s third on 85 minutes bundling the ball home after good work by Luka Varga and Tyler Pollard. Gerszonovicz completed the scoring in the 88th minute with a low finish from Pollard’s cross.
Baxter blew its chance of making ground on promotion-chasing Hampton Park United when going down 3-1 at Baxter Park on Saturday. Baxter’s Jarrod Nardino was the busier of the keepers in the first half with some fine saves and the sides went in scoreless at half-time. Two minutes into the second period Nardino made the save of the match to deny league top scorer Naseem Rasekh with a wonderful one-handed reaction to block the goal ace from point-blank range. But that only prolonged the inevitable.
In the 51st minute a poorly constructed defensive wall was exploited by Hampton Park’s Sasha Sgarbossa whose low free-kick found the far corner with Nardino helpless. Eight minutes later it was 2-0 after Hampton Park substitute Mostaf Matin skipped clear on the left then sent a low cross that set up Alisina Hussaini for a tap-in at the far post.
Baxter substitute Nat Daher had the best chance of bringing the home side back into the contest but he shot wide from 10 metres in the 83rd minute and although Daniel Taylor converted the penalty awarded after substitute Dylan Murchie was felled in the 88th minute it was too little too late.
The visitors celebrated a hard-fought and deserved win with Ehab Hilal’s injury-time goal following a poor Nardino clearance. Baxter signed Dean Panayiotou late last week. He was training with Skye United, Casey Comets and Boroondara-Carey Eagles and is a former Old Scotch, Gippsland United and Frankston Pines player who can play at the back or in midfield.
In State 5 the big news centred on Cleeland United’s decision to forfeit both its senior and reserves home games against Rosebud on Friday night. FV has awarded Rosebud mandatory 3-0 walkovers but that disadvantages head coach Stuart Johnston’s championship-chasing outfit.
Cleeland already has lost 13-0 to Aspendale and 10-0 to Seaford United this season so an opportunity to seriously impact its goal difference in what shapes as a tight title race has been denied the Olympic Park outfit. “The fact that Cleeland has been unable to field a single team for me is difficult to comprehend,” Johnston said. “I can understand forfeiting the reserve game if need be but to not be able to find 11 senior players for a home game is unusual at best. “It strikes me as very unfair should any success this season be decided by goal difference. “We have chatted with FV and they are due to come back to us and for now that’s all we can do.”
On a brighter note last week Johnston was another local to be recognised by FV during National Volunteer Week which ran from 20 to 26 May.
Rosebud retains top spot in the league and the two teams in close pursuit – Seaford United and FC Noble Hurricanes – drew 1-1 at North Seaford Reserve on Saturday. Seaford struck first when Blake Hicks sent Naseer Mohammad down the wing and he cut inside before slotting the ball past Hurricanes keeper Elvis Alimosvki in the 30th minute.
The second half was a fiery affair with both teams missing chances until the final minute of normal time. A long ball into the box was parried into Matthew Mao by Seaford keeper Alfonso Cardinale and the rebound bounced into the net. Moments later Cardinale was shown a second yellow card after a verbal altercation with the visitors’ bench.
Seaford had made all its substitutions so Paul Aitchison took over in goal. Seaford pushed for a winner and a Sam Luxford header from a corner was just wide shortly before the final whistle blew.
Aspendale won Saturday’s home game against Bunyip District 2-1 and sits fourth in the league. The opening goal came in the ninth minute when Matthew Bruce broke free in the box to squeeze the ball past Bunyip keeper Jake Biondo. The visitors equalised in the 20th minute with a fierce shot from Liam Jones from just outside the box after Aspendale failed to deal with a cross and the teams were locked at 1-1 at half-time. The winner came from James Macnab in the 52nd minute whose curling free-kick into the bottom far corner of goal gave Biondo little chance.
Mount Eliza continues to show promising signs of finishing in the top half of the table with a 2-0 away win over Casey Panthers last weekend. Michael Clark and Mujtaba Sakhi scored.
Mount Martha lost Saturday’s home game 1-0 to Endeavour Hills Fire in a clash highlighted by five players sent off and 12 cautioned.
NEXT WEEK’S GAMES
Friday 31 May, 8.30pm:
Springvale White Eagles v Mornington, Serbian Sports Centre
Skye Utd v Greater Dandenong, Skye Recreation Reserve
Springvale City v Mentone, Ross Reserve
Cleeland Utd v Mount Martha, Thomas P Carroll Reserve
Saturday 1 June, 3pm:
North Geelong v Langwarrin, Elcho Park
Peninsula Strikers v Bayside Argonauts, Centenary Park
Sandringham v Frankston Pines, RJ Sillitoe Reserve
Somerville Eagles v Baxter, Westernport Secondary College
Chelsea v Sandown Lions, Edithvale Recreation Reserve
Mount Eliza v Aspendale, Emil Madsen Reserve
Bunyip District v Seaford Utd, Bunyip Recreation Reserve
Saturday 1 June, 6pm:
Rosebud v Pakenham Utd, Olympic Park
