SOCCER PROMOTION, relegation, consolidation – what does the State League season hold for your club?Frankston Pines and Chelsea get the opening round underway with home games this Friday night and a number of local clubs fancy their chances of making a major impact in their respective leagues in 2024.In State 1 it’s now customary to tout Mornington’s promotion possibilities and in State 2 Peninsula Strikers are expected to be in the title mix. Both clubs have strong squads and Strikers announced late last week that they have signed Jaiden Madafferi from Langwarrin.The other local State 2 side Skye United has…
Author: Craig MacKenzie
SOCCER FIVE-goal wins for Chelsea and Skye and a come-from-behind victory for Peninsula Strikers highlighted the third round of the Dockerty Cup. Chelsea eased past Mount Eliza 5-0, Skye thumped Fawkner 6-1 while Strikers beat Lalor United 2-1. At Edithvale Recreation Reserve last Thursday night Chelsea applied early pressure but had to wait until the 29th minute when Daniel Vella was fouled in the box. Referee Benji Batten pointed to the spot and Adam Bartosy converted.Two goals in the last five minutes of the half put the contest out of Mount Eliza’s reach.Teenager Christian Murray’s powerful strike in the 42nd…
SOCCER SEAFORD United hopes that an influx of new players will bridge the gap between a top four finish and promotion.Paul Williams’ men narrowly missed out on reclaiming their State 4 status last season when they lost their State 5 promotion play-off 3-2 to Old Melburnians.The locals went into that contest without key players Cory Osorio (work commitments), Josh Vega (illness) and Sam Luxford (injured) and a penalty in the final minute of normal time proved their undoing.After the season Williams and assistant coach Steven Keenan assessed the outcome and agreed that fitness and depth needed to be addressed.“They were…
SOCCER SEVEN out of 14 local clubs remain in the 2024 Australia Cup after last weekend’s second preliminary round. The early stages of the prestigious national competition are regionalised along federation jurisdictions with Victoria using the Dockerty Cup name for its knockout rounds until A-League clubs enter the fray. Mornington, Peninsula Strikers and Skye United enter the knockout tournament at the next stage joining the survivors from round two – Frankston Pines, Chelsea and Mount Eliza. Langwarrin enters the Cup at the fourth round stage. In last weekend’s Cup action Pines came back from a two-goal deficit to overhaul Diamond…
SOCCER ONE of the greatest goalscorers in Victorian football history could be on the verge of a sensational comeback if a plan hatched months ago by Rosebud comes to fruition. When Stuart Johnston and assistant Stan Packer took over as senior coaches they identified a need to add to the team’s firepower. Johnson knew Nathan Yole from their days at Mornington while Packer was a long-term friend of Dave Greening and given that both forwards had joined forces at Baxter a couple of years ago it seemed logical to try and revive their partnership. The first part of the plan…