By Marcus Uhe
Springvale White Eagles have beaten out cross-town rivals South Springvale for a prized place in the Victorian Premier League’s second division (VPLM2) in 2025 on a thrilling final round of the Men’s State League 1 South East competition on Saturday.
Brazilian forward Matheus Assumpcao scored a hattrick to lead the White Eagles to a 3-1 victory over ladder-leading Eltham Redbacks, and return to VPLM2 after being relegated at the end of the 2022 season.
Springvale needed three points to keep South Springvale at bay, who could have jumped the White Eagles and taken the second promotion spot if the White Eagles went down.
South Springvale held up its end of the bargain, but the White Eagles did not, on a significant day for the club at the Serbian Sports Centre.
Also in the mix was Banyule, who began the afternoon tied with the White Eagles on 45 points.
Banyule took a 3-0 lead into half time against Mornington, but conceded four in the second half to go down 4-3 in extraordinary circumstances.
Assumpcao got his side off to an ideal start, finding the back of the net in the 9th minute to set the tone for the remainder of the 90.
A cross found him on the edge of the penalty area on the left-hand side of the goal, before he stepped inside a defender on his right and wrong–footed the Eltham goalkeeper with a low thunderbolt into the left bottom corner.
15 minutes later, he doubled the advantage after converting a spot kick.
Patrick Ayoul Both pounced on the lose ball inside his attacking penalty box with an eye for goal, but was brought down illegally by a defender while eyeing off a goalscoring opportunity.
A stutter in his approach to the kick fooled the goalkeeper, who began leaning to his right, allowing for Assumpcao to send the kick the other way, into the bottom corner once again.
Sloppy defending from Springvale allowed Eltham to hit back in the 30th minute, and at half time the White Eagles held a one-goal lead.
Assumpcao would put any concerns to bed in the 54th minute, however, restoring the two-goal lead.
After teammate Liam Walstonholme had his shot blocked on the edge of the penalty area, the Brazilian swooped on the tiniest of openings to fire a rocket into the top right corner.
It completed his hattrick, and saw him draw level at the top of the leading goalscorer table with two other players on 14 goals.
Both teams pressed in the final half hour but 3-1 in the White Eagles’ favour was how the scoreline finished, eliciting celebrations from home fans in the Dunav Stand upon the referee’s final whistle.
A tremendous season for the White Eagles saw them finished with a record of 15 wins, three draws and four losses, lead the league for goals scored (53) and the equal-second least goals allowed (25), only trailing league champions Eltham.
After a late-season stumble against South Springvale that threatened to bring their promotion hopes to a close, the White Eagles won their final four games to ensure they would be joining Eltham in moving up the grades.
South Springvale will enter next season as a red-hot favourite to be promoted from State League 1, having finished just two points shy of doing it in a brilliant 2024 season.
