South crush Clarence to stay in title race

Photos (Top to Bottom): Mr Collins tosses the coin; Clarence's George Stevens up against Jonathon Ladic and Daniel Brown; Clarence's Sam Cannamela challenges South's Costas Kanakaris; Four Clarence defenders looking after the sole South attacker, Kanakaris; Clarence defend at a corner
___________________________________________
SOUTH HOBART 6-0 CLARENCE UNITED
_______________________________________

Clarence United were never in this match and trailed 3-0 after just 14 minutes and 4-0 at the break.

Sam McIntyre was out of position in the first half at right-back and South Hobart found acres of space on the left and made the most of it. The first three goals came from that flank.

Liam Scott continually overlapped down the left, with Shae Hickey dropping deep to cover him.

Scott made the first two goals with runs to the byline and crosses, while he scored the fourth himself in an excellent performance.

Gary Upton played successfully at right-back and might even have had a goal. It was a shrewd move by coach Ken Morton. Had he played in the middle, Upton would probably have been caught up in the sticky conditions and awkward tackles and might not have lasted the match.

In the drier areas, he was able to utilise his skills and create moves rather than become involved in fifty-fifty physical midfield challenges which have often got him in trouble in the past.

Clarence made positional changes in the second half and they were much better for it. They might even have scored one or two goals with a little more luck.

McIntyre moved to the centre of defence, where he was far more effective, while David Hoppitt moved to right-back and Sam Cannamela forward into midfield.

Luke Cripps got into some good positions, but he found the conditions difficult and he struggled to connect properly with the ball and trouble keeper Mark Moncur.

South hit the front in the 9th minute when Scott’s low pass from the left into the box was met by Costas Kanakaris, who slid the ball home before keeper Michael Moschogianis could cut out the pass.

In the 11th minute, another low cross from the left by Scott found Kanakaris, who hammered the ball home off the underside of the crossbar.

In the 14th minute, Daniel Brown won the ball wide on the left near the half-way line and put David Abbott through the middle. Abbott got to the ball a fraction of a second before Moschogianis and as his shot ricocheted off the keeper, he swept it into the net to make it 3-0.

In the 38th minute, Abbott put Jonathon Ladic through, but he shot straight at Moschogianis with Kanakaris waiting unmarked in the middle.

Three minutes before the break, it was chaos in the Clarence 6-yard box and Matt Lewis, lying on the ground, could only prod the ball to Scott, who rammed it home for goal number four.

In the 64th minute, Kanakaris dispossessed Cripps on the right of mid-field and fed Ladic through the middle. Ladic’s shot was partially stopped by Moschogianis, but the shot had too much power and the ball slithered over the line to make it 5-0.

Upton headed Kanakaris’s cross over the bar in the 69th minute, while four minutes later, Kanakaris missed a sitter from point-blank range after a cross from the left and clever dummy by substitute Julius Ross.

Four minutes from the end, David Cooper ventured forward and beat Moschogianis to a left-wing cross. The ball went straight up in the air and plopped in the mud at Cooper’s feet, leaving him with an easy task to shoot home and make it 6-0.

Ross almost added a seventh from Ladic’s corner, but Moschogianis did well to turn the effort over the bar.

In the 89th minute, Ladic cracked a free-kick against the post. The ball rebounded to Upton, but Moschogianis did well to get down and turn his shot wide for a corner.

_______________________________________________________

• South Hobart coach, Ken Morton, said:

“A good win. We played well today in the conditions.

“Obviously, it was a little bit of a problem for us, the heavy ground, when we’re a side that likes to get the ball down.

“But, I thought we played to the conditions well.

“We had a bit of space to get in behind them in the first half and I thought we exploited that.

“A good performance and a good victory for us.”

• Clarence United coach, Andrew Brown, said:

“I think we looked like a team that hasn’t trained for a month.

“We’ve had a difficult period weatherwise with the grounds closed incessantly.

“The club hasn’t been able to organise meaningful training, and we looked like that today.

“As I said to the boys, we were nine out of ten to everything, and if you add it all up, that means you didn’t rate in the game at all.

“I thought we improved as the game went on and in the second half we showed periods.

“That being said, it may bode well for next week.

“But, the game was gone in the first twelve minutes. All over, Red Rover.

“You can’t afford to let South Hobart score three goals in eight minutes or nine minutes, or whatever it was, and expect to get something out of a football match.”
__________________________________________________

South Hobart: Moncur - Upton, Ludford, Cooper, Scott - Abbott (Eaves 61), Heerey, Brown (Pennicott 77), Ladic, Hickey (Ross 65) - Kanakaris (Substitute not used: Bladel)

Booked: Scott 42, Ladic 57

Goals: Kanakaris 9, 11, Abbott 14, Scott 42, Ladic 64, Cooper 86

Clarence United: Moschogianis - McIntyre, Lewis, Cannamela, Toghill (J Huigsloot 74) - Hoppitt, Stevens, Parker, Hunt (Barabara 74) - Barron (McMahon 63), Crisp (Substitute not used: Cornish)

Booked: Cripps 76

Att: 110

Ref: S Collins