Author: Craig MacKenzie

SOCCER SKYE United emerged from Saturday’s chaotic contest with Hampton East Brighton with a precious point after a six-goal thriller at Dendy Park. Both teams were searching for their first win of the season and the hosts were well on their way to breaking that duck when taking a 2-0 lead in the first half. HEB struck its first blow in the 33rd minute when Jay Leader headed home from a corner and 10 minutes later Joshua Frame flicked on his header from a free-kick to make it 2-0. Skye hit back on the stroke of half-time when Jason Nowakowski’s…

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Soccer SOMERVILLE Eagles have Tom Simmons to thank for their 4-3 away win over East Bentleigh on Saturday. He opened the scoring in the 17th minute with a moment of real quality latching onto a through ball and lobbing East Bentleigh keeper Adam Stone in style. Two minutes into the second half Sebastian Davies levelled but in the 53rd minute Troy Dekker regained the lead directly from a corner. Simmons made it 3-1 four minutes later with a crisp left-foot strike from the edge of the area. He completed his hat-trick in the 66th minute from the penalty spot but…

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Soccer A STUNNING eight-minute hat-trick to substitute Blake Hicks lit up North Seaford Reserve on Saturday. The veteran striker came off the bench against East Bentleigh in the 68th minute and scored in the 72nd, 78th and 80th minutes to end any hopes the visitors had of a comeback. Seaford had struck first when Jayden LeBron put Zain Ahmad through in the 27th minute and the latter finished from a one-on-one with East Bentleigh keeper Adam Stone. The home side went 2-0 up in the 35th minute when Matthew Cobb sliced his cross over Stone after a good Seaford build-up…

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Soccer BAXTER thumped Greater Dandenong 7-1 at WJ Turner Reserve last Friday night. The contest was a feisty affair with Baxter captain Cody Storton-French sent off in controversial circumstances a few minutes before half-time. Baxter led 1-0 from a Nicholas Brigo free-kick but a dreadful linesman’s decision allowed Greater Dandenong to level and led to Storton-French’s dismissal. Down to 10 men and scores tied at 1-1 Baxter produced a dominant six-goal second half that left its opponent in disarray. Brigo completed his hat-trick, Kyle Eichenberger got in on the act with a brace while Jai Power and Charlie O’Connell also…

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SOCCER CHELSEA staged a stunning come-from-behind 3-1 win with 10 men against Ashburton United in their State 4 South-East clash last weekend. Undermanned following the straight red shown to Adam Dunsford in the 67th minute in an off-the ball incident and down 1-0 the royal blues faced a mighty hurdle to record their opening win of the season. Their get-of-jail-free card came in the form of East Bentleigh recruit Patrick Briggs whose two goals in five minutes turned this contest on its head. In the 70th minute Briggs made Ashburton pay for not clearing from a corner and his firm…

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