SOCCER
LANGWARRIN and Seaford United were the winners on Saturday as the annual Steve Wallace Memorial Day took place at Lawton Park.
Host club Langwarrin reached the Wallace Cup final with consecutive wins over Baxter and Mornington in Group B and faced State 2 local Skye United who won a spot in the final on goal difference edging out Peninsula Strikers in Group A. Skye defeated Chelsea 4-0 in its group opener then drew 0-0 with Strikers.
As expected VPL1 Langwarrin controlled much of the final against a competitive State 2 Skye but Tom Youngs blew his chance to give the host an early lead when he blasted his penalty attempt against the crossbar. He quickly made amends getting on the end of Dante Avian’s cutback from the right and two minutes later Cooper Legrand got in behind the Skye defence and rounded Nathan Brown in goal to make it 2-0. Brown is a former Somerville and Strikers keeper and is among a group of prospective newcomers yet to sign. Others are Aleks Dukic and Keegan Myatt (from Baxter) and Shameit Sharma (Frankston Pines) while former Skye player Jason Nowakowski remains firmly on the club’s radar.
In the second half Legrand made it 3-0 after Mustafa Suliman and Avian combined to set him up and that was the final score as Langwarrin claimed its fourth Wallace Cup.
In the Plate final Seaford defeated Rosebud 3-1 in a controversial finish to a feisty contest. Seaford’s opener came when its high press forced a turnover and Blake Hicks chipped the keeper.
Seaford took a 2-0 lead into the interval after Barney Johnson’s rash challenge on Jonas Harrasser inside the area and Wise Barakzoi converted from the spot.
It was a much improved second half from the ’Buds and Johnson made amends when his left-foot finish made it 2-1. Rosebud pushed for an equaliser but was left exposed at the back and a poor clearance from Rosebud’s defence found Backi Barakzoi. From just outside the area he smashed home the match-sealing goal but that was the cue for Rosebud’s bench to get involved much to the disgust of head coach Stuart Johnson.
“Unfortunately at this point tempers flared and Rosebud coaching staff overreacted to the taunts of Seaford goalkeeper Bayley Caulfield, a former Rosebud junior and son of former president Shane Caulfield,” Johnson said. “There can be no excuse on a day which is meant to celebrate football. “I am disappointed in our behaviour and we will address that. “Rosebud unreservedly apologised to both the hosts of the day Langwarrin and deserved winners Seaford for the actions that took place. “Well done to ‘Toffee’ (Paul Williams) and his lads and all the best for a successful season. “Seaford were worthy winners.”
Here are all the Cup and Plate group scores:
Wallace Cup: Chelsea 0 Skye Utd 4 (Daniel Attard 2, Tapiwa Kufakurowa, Elliot Craig); Mornington 1 (Shaun Kenny) Baxter 2 (own goal, Ryan Brown); Peninsula Strikers 0 Skye Utd 0; Langwarrin 1 (Cooper Legrand) Baxter 0; Peninsula Strikers 3 (Noah Musso 2, Kyle Eichenberger) Chelsea 0; Langwarrin 2 (Muhamed Huseinovski, Ryo Takahashi) Mornington 0.
Wallace Plate: Mount Eliza 1 (Harris Battison) Mount Martha 1 (Seth Bakos Sims); Frankston Pines 0 Somerville Eagles 3 (Max Watson 2, Connor Phillips); Mount Martha 1 (Tom Brewster) Seaford Utd 2 (Matt Cobb, Zain Ahmad); Rosebud 1 (Kai Johnson) Frankston Pines 0; Seaford Utd 2 (Blake Hicks, Backy Barakzoi) Mount Eliza 0; Somerville Eagles 0 Rosebud 2 (Nathan Yole, Ben Symonds).
In other Memorial Day news Marcus Collier’s destination for the upcoming season remains clouded.
The former Skye captain played for his old club as a favour to head coach Phil McGuinness but also played for Rosebud alongside close friend Billy Painting. He didn’t play in the Cup final opting instead to play in the Plate final which followed. “I’m just exploring my options still and seeing what I enjoy and what feels right to me,” Collier said. It’s understood that the midfielder continues to train with Bayside Argonauts while deciding which club to join. Skye hasn’t placed any pressure on Collier while Rosebud is really keen to secure his signature.
In State 1 news Danny Topping has resigned as senior assistant at Mornington to take up a coaching post with Melbourne City’s NPL program. Mornington head coach Adam Jamieson has arranged meetings with prospective replacements and hopes to name Topping’s successor this week.
The senior squad revamp at Mornington is well underway with an influx of new players.
Terms have been agreed with Nick McKoy (from Noble Park United), Jack Geddes (Langwarrin), Jay Davies (Bentleigh Greens), Jack McDonald (Bentleigh Greens), Kieran Dover (Bentleigh Greens), Jacob Brito (Langwarrin), James Kelly (Langwarrin), Tom Wood (Strikers) and Guido Guerrieri (Fano, Italy).
Luke Burgess signed for Doveton last weekend.
In practice match news Rosebud beat Mount Eliza 4-0 last Thursday with doubles from newcomers Jack Elliott and Connor Wharton. Wharton has switched from Mornington as has young forward Sean Smith from Doveton and veteran Skye midfielder Mark O’Connor who should be an excellent replacement for Andy Jerez who is believed to have joined Endeavour United. Striker Elliott is yet to commit to the Buds cause but there’s a strong likelihood of him doing so.
On Friday night a mixed senior and under-23 Langwarrin squad lost 6-1 to Northcote at Lawton Park.
Northcote led after five minutes but a superb strike from Tosan Popo from outside the box made it 1-1.
Northcote regained the lead straight from the restart but a late flurry of goals sealed Langy’s fate.
Northcote replaced its entire team in the 60th minute and Langwarrin brought on some of the under-23s and conceded four goals in eight minutes.
This week’s friendlies:
Tuesday, 21 January
Mornington v Springvale White Eagles, Monterey Reserve, 7.30pm
Peninsula Strikers reserves v Somerville Eagles, Centenary Park, 6.30pm
Thursday 23 January
Langwarrin U23s v Skye Utd, Lawton Park, 7.30pm
Peninsula Strikers v Somerville Eagles, 6.30pm
Rosebud v Knox City, Olympic Park, 7pm
Saturday 25 January
Langwarrin v Banyule, Lawton Park, 3pm
Langwarrin v Mornington, Lawton Park, 5.30pm
In other news well known football identity Michael Bevis has died aged 85. He is a former Frankston City player and coach who also coached at Karingal United and Langwarrin. In later years he moved to Queensland and continued coaching.
First published in the Frankston Times – 21 January 2025
