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…
Author: Craig MacKenzie
SOCCER THE focus of the local game switches to Lawton Park this Saturday and the 12th official staging of the annual Steve Wallace Memorial Day. The event commemorates the life of local soccer icon Stephen William Wallace who was 54 years old when he died on 19 July 2011 and was a former Langwarrin player, coach, president, life member, club council representative and Bayside League referee.COVID-19 rules impacted on the event in 2022 and forced a series of one-off 90-minute games so no winner was declared but the tournament returned to a more familiar format in 2023 with the host…
SOCCER PENINSULA Strikers have signed attacking midfielder Kyle Eichenberger from Langwarrin.The 20-year captained Langwarrin’s under-23s last season, won the Golden Boot award and was runner-up in the Player’s Player Of The Year voting.He grew up in Langwarrin and with the exception of a short spell at Springvale White Eagles in the junior boys NPL program he has always played for his neighbourhood club.“I started to learn how to take football more seriously in the NPL juniors,” Eichenberger said. “When I went back to Langy (from White Eagles) I played under-15s, 16, 18s and 23s and made around five senior appearances.…
SOCCER JASON Grieve was offered two State 4 coaching jobs in 24 hours last week and not long after was unveiled as the new head coach of Frankston Pines. Grieve was interviewed for the Pines job the night before Baxter offered him its senior role. The 53-year-old was in demand after a five-year stint at Mentone during which he took the club into State 4 and consolidated its status. “I guess Baxter for me was the right job at the wrong time,” he said.“Pines was more of an opportunity to shape the whole club – it’s a much bigger role…
SOCCER EARLY this year Rob Vickery was set to scale down his involvement with Langwarrin but by the end of October he’d started his first year as president of the biggest soccer club in Frankston and the peninsula.The 56-year-old says it was the realisation of Langwarrin’s place in the community that triggered his backflip.“I sat through a presentation and had a moment when I realised this is a massive part of our community with over 750 players and we simply can’t afford to stuff this up,” Vickery said.“I’d done a lot of work in many different areas of the club…