SOCCER
LATROBE VALLEY
By SEBASTIAN HASSETT, JOHN CARDONA AND LAURIE WILLIAMS
THE final round of Football Victoria Latrobe Valley was completed at the weekend with Traralgon Olympians claiming its first senior men’s title in 24 years.
There is still one more catch-up game to play between Newborough-Yallourn United and Olympians (tonight, Wednesday, August 26).
With the regular season over, the spotlight now turns to cups matches in all divisions.
Seniors play for the Battle of Britain, reserves the Shopwell Troph, third division; Nan Bosma, and senior women; Browne Huizer Cup.
League champions for 2026 are: Olympians (senior men), Monash (reserves), Sale United (third division) and Falcons (senior women).
Monash and Sale United were also undefeated in their respective divisions.
Traralgon Olympians 3 def Falcons 0
OLYMPIANS secured its first Football Victoria Latrobe Valley senior men’s league championship since 2002 on Saturday night, following a convincing 3-nil victory over Falcons 2000.
Olympians needed only a draw at Harold Preston Reserve to claim the title ahead of Churchill United, but they left no doubt about their championship credentials with a pair of first half goals before a 79th minute strike from inspirational captain Alradi Ali sent the famous trophy back to Harold Preston Reserve.
After infamously fumbling the league title last year, Olympians have looked the team to beat all season, and their significant investment in acquiring top talent has finally paid dividends.
While Fortuna remains the only team with 10 LVSL league titles, Olympians join Newborough-Yallourn United and Moe United on nine league titles each.
And while Churchill’s Germanie Otieno will likely win the Golden Boot with 31 goals, Olympians have the next three most prolific forwards: Moni Eliaser (28 goals), Jake Dunstall (22) and Ali (18). They could still add to their personal totals when they face NYU tonight (Wednesday) in the final match of the season at Burrage Reserve (Round 16 match was abandoned when the Burrage Reserve lights failed).
Falcons arrived in Traralgon hoping to finish the season strongly and protect third place on the ladder, but were forced into an early change when Joe Auciello replaced the injured Lachlan Spiteri in the fifth minute.
Olympians took advantage of the disruption to establish early control, and it was who else but Ali who opened the scoring five minutes later.
Andre Antonopoulos doubled the advantage in the 37th minute, giving Anton Sbaglia’s side a commanding 2-nil lead at halftime.
Falcons coach Adrian Salvatore made further changes after the interval, as his side attempted to find a way back into the contest.
Nick D’Alessandro was replaced by Jordan Kennedy in the 76th minute, Zephaniah Nauta came on for Tom D’Alia at the same time, and Scott Mackeown and Ashton Pavlic were introduced in the 85th minute.
But Olympians remained in control and Ali completed his double in the 79th minute to put the result beyond doubt.
The goal sparked celebrations among the huge crowd of Olympians supporters, who could now begin to celebrate the long-awaited championship.
The night became more difficult for Falcons when Nauta was sent off in the 88th minute. Olympians’ Guguei Malual was booked in the same minute, while Jethro Alison was cautioned shortly afterwards, but the result was already secure.
The defeat meant Falcons finished third on 34 points after 18 matches, one point ahead of Monash in fourth.
Olympians, meanwhile, moved to 45 points, two points clear and a game clear of Churchill – a team who has confounded the critics to mount a serious title charge.
For Falcons, the result brought a disappointing end to their campaign but there is hope for the future, with numerous youngsters getting their first taste of senior action and a revamped Falcons Park almost ready for completion after a difficult year of disruption.
Moe United 2 def Morwell Pegasus 1
MOE United seniors finished the 2026 Football Victoria Latrobe Valley senior men’s league season with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Pegasus.
In a physical but entertaining game at Olympic Park, Moe, both sides played attacking football.
The winning goal came from right winger Tully Anderson, once again scoring late in the second half to grab Moe United the three points.
Moe United produced some great attacking plays in the first 20 minutes to lead early in the match, thanks to French recruit Thomas Piazza.
He has returned to the starting line-up after a few months away. He was dominating the midfield position along with Bailey Sommerville and Chad Shelly.
The Red Devils’ first chance came after 10 minute from a pass by Piazza, who laid off a perfect pass to Matt Shearing who raced goalward then cut inside defender Levi Mahammud, but his shot was comfortably saved by Santo Simon.
Piazza was again the creator, spreading the ball wide to Anderson, who when outpaced Pegasus fullback Emanuel Tombra, only to see his cross go inches past Shearing’s foot.
It was Shearing again in the play when Piazza this time sent Shearing through on the left, whose cross was easily saved by Simon.
Pegasus got its game going, and a hard, low free kick 25 metres out by Samuel Jacob somehow went straight through a wall of players for a goal kick. From the resultant free kick, Pegasus won the ball back, and from a cross on the right, there was a goalmouth scrimmage and the Red Devils got out of jail, clearing the ball from the danger zone.
The home side was dealt a blow after 30 minutes when Piazza was forced from the field minutes after being fouled for contact to his back.
The second half was full of action.
Moe United got the breakthrough when a rushed clearance under pressure by Monday Cholel fell to Sheclley, who unleashed a cracking shot into the top left corner, giving Simon no chance.
The Red Devils had barely finished celebrating the opening goal, when a free kick from Kuku Mahammad into the box saw a goalmouth scramble, with Nelson Tombra getting the ball over the line for the leveller.
It was end-to-end football now, and a Brendan Ruddell long free kick found Luke Bathgate unmarked at the back post, but he could only head the ball straight to the keeper.
Moe United was pushing hard for the winner, and got its reward when Anderson won the ball inside the box and raced toward goal in the 80th minute. His shot was partially saved by Simon, but the ball had enough momentum to get over the line despite a lunging effort from defender Beinfait Kagayo
To Pegasus’ credit, they never conceded defeat. Tombra again created a great chance for a late equaliser when he sent a pinpoint cross to Cholil Nyiachiol completely free at the back post, but his first-time shot was sprayed wide.
With Moe United hanging onto a slender 2-1 lead with only minutes remaining, the ever-alert and quick-thinking captain Shelley produced a brilliantly taken free kick from near the halfway line, which saw Simon completely misjudge the bounce of the ball, which went over his head and then somehow in the softish surface, the ball bounced off the crossbar and back into play where it was cleared.
Best for the winners was Somerville, Bathgate and Levi Heusmann.
Pegs were best-served by Tombra, Kuku Mohammad and Sean Ngwene-Nyathi.
First-year Moe United senior coach Lachie McKenzie must be congratulated on doing a superb job under extreme circumstance.
His quest for back-to-back league titles was seriously precented by the astounding amount of long-term injuries to the majority of his squad.
He congratulated all Moe United side who were mostly highly competitive this season.
Club veteran Shearing won the senior best-and-fairest, with Somerville runner-up in his first full season a regular senior player. Shelley came third and Anderson fourth.
Battle of Britain begins this Sunday at Olympic Park. Moe plays recently crowned league champion Olympians first up from 3pm.
Churchill United 3 def NYU 1
THIS game played out with the championship in the balance on Saturday night.
Churchill, in an effort to get to the top of the table and take home the championship, had a hard-fought win over Newborough-Yallourn in the Saturday night gloom at Burrage.
There was no light problems at Burrage this time, and it shone for Churchill.
The home side had a horrid end to its season. Losing goalkeeper Steffen Aboltins with a red card at 17 minutes didn’t help, and the Combine was forced to battle with 10 men for the next 73 minutes.
It was slow going up to halftime, as neither team could gain a breakthrough.
After the interval, Churchill settled, and finally at 55 minutes, Tinashe Madhuvu made the break, scoring his first senior goal and giving the Rams a platform to work from.
Encouraged by the first goal, Churchill, with their superior numbers, were able to score again when Jacob Cheney netted one at 72 minutes.
It was tough going for the home side, with limited chances as the strong Churchill defence stood tall.
Conner McGovern scored from a free kick in the 85th minute for the Rams. It was almost the final hurrah, but a last-gasp final goal by Ash Bissell saw the home side evade a clean sheet.
Olympians will play NYU tonight (Wednesday, August 26) in a catch up match at Burrage, which in reality, is a dead rubber where there is nothing at stake.
East Gippsland United drew Traralgon City 0-all
THERE was only pride left in this game, as East Gippsland United and Traralgon City clashed for the final time in a tough battle where they shared the points.
The draw wasn’t enough for the East to avoid the dreaded wooden spoon.
The tyranny of distance makes East Gippsland’s job of fielding competitive teams each week very difficult, although they do have the whole of East Gippsland to recruit players. Traralgon City has also had its problems this season competing with Olympians next door, who have recruited so well this season to win the league championship.
The Eagles hit the ground running against Traralgon City at home on Sunday.
Zeb McLeod allowed space and made the first big impact on the match, scoring the opening goal after six minutes.
Traralgon City tried valiantly to get even, but East Gippsland made it difficult for the Roosters to score.
With 43 minutes gone, City’s Trent Frost stood tall to equalise just before the halftime whistle. Halfway through the second stanza, the East were on the board again when McLeod netted his second goal, giving the East an unlikely lead.
Only 10 minutes remained before City’s Jack Lynch was subbed out for Tsz Kit Wong, which proved a masterstroke as his fresher legs were able to steer one past the East goalkeeper to level the scores once again.
Sale United 5 def Monash 3
IN their 100th clash with nothing but pride to play for, Sale United gave Monash a rude awakening to beat the Wolves in an eight goal battle at home on Sunday.
The Swans won 5-3 after being down 2-nil at one stage.
Monash looked good early and moved the ball across the park, gaining plenty of possession and building up set plays, which eventually came off with Jarad Baldacchino scoring in the 17th minute and Adam Semple at 25.
Sale fought back through Luke Williams being able to get a goal back just before the break.
With only 45 minutes of the regular season left, the Swans decided to finish in a blaze of glory.
Nelson Stock scored only minutes after the break to level at 2-all, then Sale, with a burst, scored through Charlie Cockell.
Monash didn’t give up, and went goal-for-goal, with Adam Semple equalising with his second at the 78th minutes mark.
With 12 minutes to play, it was level-pegging, but goals to Daniel Patchett (82) and Charlie Cockell (84) ensured Sale ended the regular season on a high.
