SOUTH HOBART 1-0 TILFORD ZEBRAS
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This win put South Hobart in second place and three points behind Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League leaders Tilford Zebras, but with a game in hand.
The game never reached great heights.
Zebras had Frank Mainella in goal, with Troy Kaden on the bench, and Tommy Fotak made his first senior appearance of the season, playing in defence.
Mainella had an excellent game and thwarted David Cooper, Jonathon Ladic and Hugh Ludord with good saves.
Fotak was good as a destroyer, either heading clear or punting the ball upfield from the ground.
Jayden Welch and Kurt Engels, the two wide midfielders, found the going tough, as expected.
Bart Beecroft made his first appearance for South Hobart since the opening day of the league season when he came on in stoppage time at the end of the second half.
South coach, Ken Morton, made an early change when he took off David Abbott in the 33rd minute and replaced him with Ricki Eaves.
A key change that Morton also made was when he moved Gary Upton from right-back into midfield and dropped Josh Heerey to the right-back position.
Upton started to make things happen in midfield and Zebras had to watch Upton closely and this limited their attacking forays to some extent.
Dwayne Walsh had a poor game in attack for Zebras. He demonstrated his usual speed, but his ball control and technique let him down.
Ben Crosswell was his usual tricky self and showed some great skills, but he only managed one decent shot.
Zebras could have had two goals in the opening half. In the 6th minute, Ryan Smith smacked a shot against the post, while in the 25th minute, Welch’s shot was cleared off the line by Ludford.
In the 32nd minute, a free-kick by Ladic found Cooper, but his header was well saved by the alert Mainella.
Kostas Kanakaris, playing as a lone striker for South, found things difficult. He did have one chance when he cut inside from the left, but his miscued shot went to the far side of teh ground for a throw-in.
Shae Hicky also had one opportunity when he worked his way in from the left, but he blazed wildly over the bar.
Six minutes later, Ladic found a way down the left, but Mainella blocked his shot at the near post and conceded a corner.
In the 39th minute, Ludford unleashed a powerful drive from long range, but it flew straight at Mainella.
South gradually began to get on top in the second half and as early as the 48th minute, Hickey shot narrowly over the bar from wide on the left.
Zebras squandered a great chance in the 59th minute when a poor goalkick by Mark Moncur saw Crosswell gain possession just outside the box and dead in front. Crosswell should have scored, but shot wide.
In the 61st minute, a dangerous cross from the left by Liam Scott found Eaves at the near post, but he flicked the ball over the Zebras bar when he might have scored.
The goal came in the 73rd minute and resulted from a lack of pressure by Zebras at a South Hobart goalkick.
Moncur took a short goalkick wide to his right and the ball was passed infield to Upton, with no Zebras players pressuring their opponents.
Upton hit a long ball to the left of the Zebras box, where a hesitant Mainella expected the deep lying Engels to clear. Engels failed to control the ball and fell over, allowing the marauding Scott to gain possession and score into an empty net as Mainella was caught off his line.
The injured Crosswell came off with 11 minutes remaining, to be replaced by Josh Thorpe, but he was unable to swing the game back in the Zebras' favour.
Eaves almost made it 2-0 in the 86th minute, but he fired into the side-netting.
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- South Hobart coach, Ken Morton, said:
“As a football match, I didn’t think a lot of the game.
“But, having said that, it was going to be a mistake that won the game.
“A typical Zebras versus South Hobart game. A bit tentative, people playing on counter-attacks and one goal was going to win it.
“Fortunately, it was their mistake and our goal.”
- Tilford Zebras coach, Nick Lapolla, said:
“I thought it was a good game between two quality sides.
“As I said to the boys, it was only going to take one goal to separate it and, unfortunately, it was a mistake and we paid the price for it.
“Besides that, I’m proud of the boys.
“It’s not over yet.”
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South Hobart: Moncur - Upton, Ludford, Cooper, Scott - Abbott (Eaves 33), Ladic, D Brown, Heerey, Hickey (Ross 77) - Kanakaris (Beecroft 92) (Substitute not used: Wilcock)
Booked: Brown 64, Kanakaris 75, Upton 92
Goals: Scott 73
Tilford Zebras: Mainella - Telega, Smith, Fotak (Connolly 87), Pace - K Engels, Fagg, Self, Welch - Walsh, Crosswell (Thorpe 79) (Substitute not used: Kaden)
Booked: Self 85, Telega 91, Thorpe 92
Att: 100
Ref: I Jozeljic
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