South Hobart suffer first league defeat but stay top

Photos (Top to Bottom): Zebras's Andrew Telega (left) tangles with Julius Ross; Zebras' Ryan Smith (left) in an aerial duel in midfield with Daniel Brown; Referee Kim Barker awards an indirect free-kick as Zebras' Paul Cairns (left) and South Hobart's Jonathon Ladic grab a breather.

Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League, KGV Park, Monday, 13 April 2009
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Tilford Zebras 2 (Walsh 5, Thorpe 90+3)
South Hobart 0

HT: 1-0 Att: 150 Ref: K Barker
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Tilford Zebras: Kaden (Mainella 46) - Fagg, Smith, Telega, Pace - Brazendale, Self, Cairns, Welch - Walsh (Thorpe 77), Crosswell [Substitutes not used: Connolly, F Lapolla] [Coach: N Lapolla]

South Hobart: Kruijver - Scott, Ludford, Heerey, Cooper - Eaves, Hickey, Ladic, Ross - D Brown, Abbott (Wardle 78) [Substitutes not used: Di Falco, Pennicott, Moncur] [Coach: K Morton]
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South Hobart retained top spot on the Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League ladder despite this 2-0 defeat to Tilford Zebras, who move level on 10 points with South Hobart and second-placed Clarence United.

South had only themselves to blame for the defeat as they missed at least four chances in the opening minutes.

Daniel Brown and David Abbott just couldn’t put a foot right as they hesitated and missed the chance to even get a shot in when a goal was there for the taking, or just blazed wide (in Abbott’s case).

Having survived this intense opening pressure, Zebras counter-attacked and scored as Ben Crosswell raced down the left and put Dwayne Walsh through to finish the move.

After that, it was a dour midfield battle until the closing ten minutes when Zebras threw everything at their opponents and only some good goalkeeping by Sam Kruijver kept South in the game.

Zebras had replaced Troy Kaden with veteran Frank Mainella at the interval after Kaden had been injured shortly before the break in a tangle with Brown.

Kaden had given the ball to Abbott in just the 6th minute, but the South Hobart player had somehow mis-kicked and squandered a clear chance.

In the 69th minute, Julius Ross cut in from the left and fed Liam Scott, but he lifted his effort over the goal.

In the 71st minute, a long run by David Cooper provided Jonathon Ladic with a chance, but he blazed over the bar.

South coach Ken Morton had little experience on the bench but brought on Nathan Wardle with 12 minutes remaining.

To his credit, Wardle went close twice, the best chance being a diving header in the 84th minute, but it was directed straight at Mainella.

A minute later, Thorpe released Croswell on the left and, although he beat his defender, he could only chip harmlessly over the bar.

The closing stages were nail-biting.

In the 87th minute, Crosswell fought hard to control a difficult pass and, at the second attempt, set up Brazendale beautifully.

Brazendale’s marvellous shot brought an equally superb save from Kruijver.

Disaster struck South a minute from the end of the regulation 90 minutes. Crosswell hared for goal, hotly pursued by Ludford and with Kruijver coming off his line.

Mr Barker adjudged that Ludford had illegally impeded Crosswell at the edge of the box and awarded a free-kick to Zebras and sent off Ludford for unlawfully preventing a goal-scoring opportunity.

Thorpe took the free-kick and forced another wonderful save from Kruijver.

In the 92nd minute, Zebras tore the South Hobart defence apart as Crosswell rounded Brown, but Ladic cleared two shots off the line in the blink of an eye before Kruijver saved brilliantly from Crosswell.

In the 93rd minute, Brazendale cleverly set up Thorpe, whose first shot was blocked, but he lobbed the rebound over Kruijver and into the net to seal the victory.

Seconds later, Thorpe was shown the red card for directing foul and abusive language at Shae Hickey.

South are clearly missing the suspended Gary Upton and the injured Bart Beecroft in midfield, but having survived the opening onslaught, Zebras were worthy of the three points.

With Ludford now also suspended, their resources are looking very depleted indeed.

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• Tilford Zebras coach, Nick Lapolla, said:

“Absolutely brilliant.

“I thought we did everything that I asked from them.

“We had a game plan and they stuck to it until the last minute.

“There’s always a bit of controversy in Zebras and South Hobart games.

“It just goes to show that anyone can beat anyone on a given day, and there are still 16 or so games left.

“Don’t write us off yet.”

• South Hobart coach, Ken Morton, said:

“A typical Zebras versus South Hobart game.

“We’ve missed four chances in the first six or seven minutes.

“The game should have buried and over with.

Unfortunately, they’ve had one chance in the first half with a breakaway and it’s a goal. End of story.”
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STATISTICS

TILFORD ZEBRAS SOUTH HOBART
15 Goal Attempts 7
8 Shots on Target 2
2 Corners 5
12 Fouls Committed 9
0 Off-Sides 5
2 (Fagg 34, Telega 91) Yellow Cards 0
1 (Thorpe 95) Red Cards 1 (Ludford 89)

Tilford Zebras:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Walsh 1 1
Smith 1 0
Brazendale 3 1
Crosswell 3 2
Cairns 3 0
Self 2 2
Thorpe 2 2

South Hobart:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Scott 2 1
Abbott 2 0
Ladic 1 0
Wardle 2 1