Saturday, September 12, 2009

South Hobart and Clarence through to Top-Four series grand final







Photos (Top to Bottom): Knights keeper flicks the ball over the bar for a corner; Spectators on the hill enjoy the game and the balmy weather; South Hobart goalkeeper Mark Moncur clutches the ball to his chest; South Hobart striker Kostas Kanakaris (white No. 9) shoots against the post; Josh Heerey crosses the ball into the Knights' box despite the attentions of Mynonge Kamba; South's Josh Heerey miscues a cross from Kanakaris and sends the ball high and wide


South Hobart and Clarence United will meet in next Friday’s grand final of the State-wide Top-Four series.


South Hobart beat a nine-man Glenorchy Knights 4-2 in a penalty shoot after the sides were locked together at 0-0 after extra-time.


Clarence United downed Hobart Zebras 5-4 in a goal feast that also needed extra-time to find a winner.


South Hobart dominated the match against Knights but simply could not score despite having some glorious chances.


Amadu Koroma should have put Knights in front in the opening minutes, but his shot from an acute angle was blocked by South keeper Mark Moncur.


For the remainder of the match, it was all South Hobart, but poor finishing and resolute defending by the Knights ensured the game remained scoreless.


Kostas Kanakaris hit a post for South, while Josh Heerey missed an absolute sitter set up for him by Kanakaris.


Knights had Mynonge Kamba sent off in the 51st minute for a foul on Daniel Brown, but the Knights held on with 10 men.


They were reduced to 9 players in the 72nd minute when goalkeeper Alex Tatnell was injured while preventing a shot from Seth Otte.


Having used all their substitutes, outfield player Tom Sherman went in goal and produced some brilliant saves in the remaining period of normal time, and again in the half-hour of extra-time.


Penalty misses in the shoot-out by Corey Smith and Alex Holmes cost Knights the match as only Jade Clay and Breno Dos Santos scored for them, while Bart Beecroft, Hugh Ludford, Liam Scott and David Cooper netted for South.


Clarence and Zebras squandered numerous easy chances but still scored nine goals between them in the 120 minutes.


Ben Hamlett put Clarence in front in the 24th minute, but substitute Adam Young equalised in the 61st minute with his first touch.


Dwayne Walsh gave Zebras a 2-1 lead in the 70th minute, but an equaliser by Chris Hunt six minutes from the end took the game into extra-time.


Four goals in six minutes in the first period of extra-time made for a tense finish.


Two goals by Luke Cripps put Clarence 4-2 ahead, but two goals by Jayden Welch made it 4-4 with just 13 minutes remaining.


Hamlett, who had an excellent game, hit Clarence’s winner in the 106th minute when he was left unmarked inside the box and collected Andy Barron’s low cross from the right.


In Division One, two goals by Bernhard Klasen and one each by Colin Shepherd, Ben Davis and Sam McDonald gave third-placed Beachside a 5-1 win over wooden-spooner Christian United.

11 comments:

Captain said...

The knights fought bravely with 9 min for over 1/2 hour. Their organisation and spirit was impressive against a lame, tactically dumb Sth Hobart outfit.

Was Kelly's decision to use all subs in normal time when extra time was likely a tactical blunder??

mad old man said...

Reds I totally agree ,knights battled on till the very end with only 9 men and young t Sherman was brilliant in the sticks, I personally think knights really deserved to win, south couldn’t buy a goal!

Most of the time south’s wingers were unmarked but still managed to get in offside positions, I think if knights had all 11 men they would of won

Captain said...

After sitting in the freshly painted (old crap) grandstand and being a bit impressed with the crowd for these games, I drove past the magnificent hockey grounds yesterday and noticed a huge crowd. Got home and saw a piece in the paper about their GF, naming the teams and providing other stats. Flicking through the channels a bit later saw the game being played live on ABC. (watched 5 minutes - it was crap).

I wonder what FFT will have arranged for the State Premiership decider on Friday night? Maybe a folded over A4 sheet with the teams on it.

Tom said...

Certainly two very different games on the weekend… Zebras v Clarence was brilliant to watch and highly entertaining. Fast and exciting. Clarence playing great football now and after the cup final and probably last 6-7 games are definitely worth their place in the top two teams in the state. Lets hope the final will be as good a game! Would be nice to see Clarence get up but really cant see them beating South.

Knights v South was a rather dull match. Knights battled hard and were probably a bit unlucky not to score. South were a long way short of impressive and were maybe even a little lucky to be in the final. Still should be too good for Clarence on Friday.

Anyone who talks down the final series importance was obviously not at the games on the weekend. The crowd was fantastic and the reactions of both the players and coaches was a sure sign of how important the games were. Well done FFT!

Looking forward to a great night on Friday. Lets hope FFT can organise the media and coverage to the level the game deserves.

Great crowd a given when Clarence plays at least…

Anonymous said...

No matter what you say... Congratulations to South and Clarence.

One concern of mine though is...
I have just watched the footage of the Glenorchy Knights v South Hobart game from youtube and am very disappointed with the performance put on by Alex Tatnell...

The footage shows that the TINY south hobart player didnt touch him...

If this is the case... He should be given an absolute pasting by Knights officals and team mates...

Judge it for yourself at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/tasfilmproduction

Tom said...

Hahaha! Classic! Sherman was better in goals anyway. Tatnell is hugely overrated! He did manage to make a nice spectacle of himself whilst totally disregarding the team. With the way he went down and cried you would want a broken leg to justify it, not a broken nail.

Corey Smith said...

All credit to the boys for battling saturday! pretty shattered to go out like that!
Once again the game as a contest was spoilt by poor refereeing decision but so be it...

Credit to South who I think will win the final as they have been the best side all year. It's a shame that we didnt have the opportunity to battle 11 v 11 all game but in hindsight we showed that we have heart and won't give up.

With the majority of the squad to stay together, some new faces and the young guys coming through I am sure we will be there abouts next season....

Special mention to Jade Clay who battled on with cracked ribs in extra time.. he is also my tip for vic tuting!

congrats and good luck clarence and south in the final.

The General said...

'Mike'...fair suck of the sauce bottle! You'd better get a bigger/better monitor. "The footage shows..." you tell us in one para, then the next your guessing 'If this is the case..."
One angle of video never tells the whole story!
The South player 'hooked' his shot wide of the goals which meant his studs ended up facing Alex's laces, which bloody hurts - a lot!!!
Glad to see you supporting a fellow goalkeeper...God help us if you take up refereeing!!!

Anonymous said...

General, General, General...

Ive been an advocate for all goalkeepers, but when I see something like that Im going to speak out...

I cant believe that Mr Kelly is coping crap for using his subs...

I dont think he would have expected his goalkeeper to go down like a fairy...

Have a look at the footage again General, at one stage the YOUNG goalkeeper grabs his knee in agony, then his shin, then his foot... Which one is it?

I acutally think Tatnell is a very talented goalkeeper, much better than I ever was, I just think he let himself and his team down when he was needed the most.

I hope you dont actaully play the game mate, becuase you have a lot to learn... just because a player hooks the ball doesnt mean studs are involved... thats a ridiculous comment.

toyota1 said...

gee mike maybe you need to see some action on the field .yuo seem to have an opinion on every position on the field .might pay to stick to one or step up to the highest level .then comment on your peers

Unknown said...

Toyota1... What are you talking about?