Central Coast Mariners beat Tasmania 3-0 before a crowd of 1,768 at KGV Park this evening, but it took the A-League side 76 minutes to break the deadlock.
Tasmania put up a plucky performance and had several chances to score.
The opening half was goalless, but Tasmania may well have led by that stage as Andy Brennan twice missed good chances.
The Mariners played neat possession football and forced several corners, but they were unable to break down the resolute Tasmanian defence.
Patricio Perez was at the heart of most of the Mariners’ moves, but the front runners, Daniel McBreen and Nik Mrdja were unable to capitalise on his passes, as well as the openings created by Oliver Bozanic, Matthew Lewis and Michael McGlinchey.
Will Abbott and Marc Iseli played valiantly at the heart of the Tasmanian defence, while Liam Scott and Jim Pennicott did well in pushing forward down the flanks.
Nathan Pitchford was reliable in goal and turned a Perez shot against the bar and out for a corner in the 8th minute, while in the 23rd minute, he did well to block a shot from McBreen.
Tasmania made four changes at half-time, bringing on keeper Sam Kruijver, as well as Tom Roach, Jonathon Lo and Daniel Brown for Pitchford, Brayden Mann, Bobby Eaves and Brennan. Ben Hamlett replaced Chris McKenna on the hour.
It may be the last time local fans see Hamlett for a while as he leaves for the United States tomorrow to take up a soccer scholarship at an American college.
Scott missed a great chance to score for the home side in the 50th minute after Mariners’ goalkeeper Mathew Ryan failed to deal with a Tom Roach ball into the box, but his shot was tame and Bozanic managed to block the effort.
Mrdja hit the bar in the 53rd minute as Tasmania began to wilt, but it was not until the 76th minute that the Mariners finally got the breakthrough they had been seeking.
Shortly before that, they had brought on their big guns, with strikers Matt Simon and Adam Kwasnik replacing Perez and Mrdja.
In the 76th minute, Scott gave the ball away in midfield and Bojic gained possession and fed McBreen. He released Simon down the inside-right channel and the striker chipped the ball over the advancing Kruiver and into the net.
Kruijver saved well from Kwasnik in the 77th minute, but three minutes later he could only parry Bozanic’s shot, after a pass from Brad Porter had put the striker through on the left, and Bozanic swept home the loose ball to make it 2-0.
In stoppage time, Simon found McBreen on the left and his cross was headed home by Kwasnik to complete the scoring.
Victorian referee Lucien Laverdure did an excellent job in the middle, ably assisted by Tasmanian’s Michael Thain and Simon Natoli.
63 comments:
i thought tasmania played really well but still have no idea how pennicott and marchioli made the side ahead of others. for me they just seemed the only two not up for the challenge
very good evening. well done fft(about time i have said something like that) and very well done players was very impressed with the way all players played good style and competitive.
I wouldn't trust that crowd figure! As I went in there were three lines, one was an "exact change only" queue, and they weren't handing out tickets to that one! 1768 could be as low as 2/3rds of the actual total - definitely over 2000 I would guess.
Hold your head high lads. Top marks to all concerned. Hopefully we can see more of this type of fixture. Refereeing was of a high standard also.
10:27 PM
who cares, yes i agree pennicot maybe wasn't up to it. Did maybe kick and hope a few times and was caught ball watching a little, but he didnt do to badly, no need to bring it up and ruin the vibe of the game. It was a good learning curve for the young lad and he is a bright prospect fot the future of the SPL. I thought Will Abbot was outstanding and his only what 17? and didn't look out of his league against any of those players!
Excellent all round.
I would have to agree with Chuq and say those crowd figures didnt seem correct when i was down the street and around the corner 5 mins after kickoff. I disagree with the first comment, Marchioli for me was one of the best if not the best on the park for tasmania, he saved 2 certain goals and was ever present helping the back 4. pennicott was solid for his age and why would tasmania as a team send out better older players? because were promoting our youngsters to the national league! someone who is 25/26 have lost there chance unless there incredible.
Anon 10.38, bit tough on Chello, thought he did a mountain of running all game and was one of Tassie's best especially defensively.
Pennicott struggled especially in the second half, he had nothing left for the last half hour as fitness started to show against a professional outfit. His distribution also let him down although must have been difficult with not much offensive movement from the mids and forwards.
Other good performances i thought from Liam Scott, Brennan, Kanakaris, Pitchford and Abbott. McKenna struggled, was never going to be his game chasing centre halves and looking for scraps, doesn't look overly fit.Would have been good to see Ben Crosswell play up front. Great to see so many people there and so many kids. Well done to all involved and good eye opener for coaches and players on how much we can improve the game here, hopefully Central Coast will make it an annual thing.
3-0 and we didnt even have our best side out there.... not bad really
I must say how refreshing it was to see a referee handle a game in the manner that the young Vitorian referee did last night.What a professional performance from a young man.The manner the game was played in did play a big part though ,in that the ball was moved very quickly from player to player reducing the possibility of being tackled in the first place. Particularly by CCM.There were minimal stoppages. No late tackles etc etc. I wonder how many local referees were present and if they were ,they should have learnt lots about how to referee a game.
Marchioli was one of the better performers in the first half, Liam Scott would have got BOG for Tas. Pennicott cost two goals at the end.. terrible.. apart from that a great performance by Tas
Credit must go to FFT and the Tas team. We definately missed a solid left sided player going forward. Kosta worked very hard in first half but had nothing left to give in second. Pitchford was excellent, and if Abbott doesnt play A league or better in his career ill back flip naked up liverpool street. Iseli was great. The referee was good because he had nothing to do. The only minor downer for me is when CCM started going in for the ball harder because they wanted to win, we couldnt go with them but gee they were super fit and I am so proud of our Tassie boys. Well done!!
p.s i agree with earlier post, definately more than 2000 people there last night.
when does the real tassie men's side play? they might actually be competitive?
great game to watch, good to see some of the local players we know go up against some of the best in the country. and great thanks to the central coast mariners for coming to hobart and playing. hopefully they come back next year!
Well done all the Tassies boys. Those lackwits bagging jim pennicott are just silly. While he had his legs he did what you'd want a full back to do - he kept out 8 of 10 crosses on his side, against a pro player much more experienced than he. Yes he ran out of legs, and the coach could have taken him off. His distribution wasn''t great - but there's always 2 sides to that equation - the passer and the receiver - there wasn't much sharpness and movement in midfield supporting the bal, and our guyslooked rushed on the ball quite often. It was a great night, we have to be happy despite a 3-0 as Mariners are so fit and strong technically those lads strike a ball so well. The balls in behind the full backs from 35 yards - sweet! Half our guys aren't used to playing to keep possession in their club sides, and the fitness and structure was a problem right from the beginning as we didn't have the legs or the organisation to be competitive - only to be expected as there was no preparation time and these guys come from all over. Marchioli was good too, he's a good lad. A couple looked like they had not much idea - but I wont go into who cos what's the point?
A great effort by all. Brennan looked tired and a bit slow.
Thought the two Kingborough boys were brillant!!
D.Brown however????? no coincidence they scored 3 when he came on. Totally lost contol of the middle of the park.
If a player can't take criticism he will not improve as a player, good experience for Jim but he was pretty average with ball distribution all night.
Our Centre Mid did not get a sniff all night, very strange lineup for the centre of the park I thought.
Agreed 100%
votes
Abbott 3
Chel 2
Iseli 1
Dogga - 5
Anon 9.28 - I wonder if you are one of those disgruntled Olympic/Knights/Zebras supporters or players? The team with the BEST attitude to the game was out there last night.
If others wish to be included for future matches maybe a change of attitude is what would be called for.
Credit to both the team, their support crew and FFT (and CCM) on a positive display.
Suprised to see Daniel Brown left out of the starting lineup as he has been in good form at club level from what I have seen, and then to see him come on in defensive midfield when he hasn't played there all season may represent how little of the league Mr Payne has seen. Well done to all the guys that played and Mr Payne did well to get the team to gel as they did with the limited time for prep.
Anon 10.18am
Pennicott did nothing of the sort -he blocked 3 crosses early on then leaked like a sieve until the end. Didnt think abbott was that tight either. Scott was the best defender by a street.
Dogga has been in good form this year and deserved a spot. But did look way out of his depth last night.
well done tassie
L.scott was not BOG for tas. No way. It was for sure Will Abbott for a 16 year old to play against pros and not look out if his league was super. With Iseli with him at center half, it was a good pairing but they were let down by their full backs in the last 15 minutes. Brown and roach looked a lot better in the middle of the park and added a bit of grit to the mid field. Chello also got the job done.
Abbott was very solid and looked like he belonged at that level.
Chel battled hard and Scott was also very good.
Surprised to see Roach on the bench though.
should have subbed Brown for Pennicott and Iseli move to fullback. Dogga was terrible in the midfield.
Ratings:
3-liam scott
2-will abbott
1-kosta kanakaris
agree that the game plan did not suit mckenna, would have been good to see crozza up top with a bit more agility and speed.
one average game against the top quality competition available to them does not make or break a career.
positive night for the FFT, the supporters and the very young team that did themselves proud.
I hope we will see a tasmanian team playing at least 2 or 3 times a season against this type of opposition as they will only improve.
Anon 10:18 you was watching some other game, innit?
Bloggers,
Its not very often that a player would say that they were proud to be a part of a 3-0 loss, but after speaking with most of the boys they didnt view the game as a defeat, rather a victory for the bigger picture and what FFT are trying to achieve!
The event was a huge success and all those involved should be proud that they put on a spectacle like they did!
Well done to all those invloved particuarly the players who gave everything against a superior opponent and I think the result showed the superiority, not the effort and committment shown!
Well done boys hopefully this is the tip of the ice-berg!
just watched the highlights from the game and i think they showed the true reflection of the game, i dont want to sound bad to us as we showed great spirit but we might have lost by alot more than we did, liam scott should of scored and if he wants to take the next step he has to score those oppertunitys
great showing by out lads but up a great fight but last 15-20 showed the difference between the sides. think abbott was great for tas for 16 he's going to be some player. liam scott was very solid at the back did give few passes away going forward sometimes. kosta in the first half getting at the ccm right back was very good showed his pace well. chello coming back was good going forward not so great. would have liked to see ricky self in the middle getting at there center backs a bit more we thats where we lost the game i believe. the two north eaves and mann looked way out of their depth mckenna didnt reallt have much to do. good show by the lads tho can only do good things for tassi football
abbott no doubt the stand out performance for tassie! well done mate
Scott constantly gave the ball away when he was looking to go forward. He was at fault for the first goal, he turned it over looking to pass into the middle. I though Will Abbott was our best player followed by Iseli then Marchioli. Pennicott was at fault for two of the goals. He is a good player and has improved a lot but he struggles at reading the play and his distribution lets him down at times. All in all it was a great night.
It's a shame that people need to find scapegoats after such a fantastic effort by the Tassie boys.
Lets focus on the positives from last night. Abbott, with the right future development will hopefully be an A league player or better.
No goals were individual mistakes but good passages by the CCM and for 75 minutes were made to work very hard.
is the same Abbott everyone said was nt good enough as he played in the Reserves League?
Well done for the lad for staying within the TIS program and being developed to a standard where he is now seen as a Talented player, hence these rave reports and more so why he has a weeks trail with Brisbane Roar next month.
Well done Will,great game. however i believe that will is closer to 18 than 16? All the best at Roar trials do yourself proud!
dogga is not a midfielder, simple as that and the kingborough boys were a total waste of space unless you like players like chel who consistently have AFL style work rates with very little impact with the ball, typical tassie mentality, readig these comments i wonder what planet your from?
As a player involved last night I enjoyed the experience and will have this to take with me for the rest of my career. I was a little down after the last 15 minutes when we conceeded 3 goals, but one thing will always stick in my mind.
After the match Michael Mackenna came up to all the boys and reminded us of what we had done for football in Tasmania today he was nearly in tears as he spoke. Which i thought was a nice touch from a peer and a admin.
A defensive midfielder does most of his work off the ball. Marchioli did well, lots of work, blocked lanes and made a few good challenges. First half, he was great, really surprised me with his performance. Would like to have seen Ricky Self in front of Chel and Crossa up front instead of McKenna, would have been very, very interesting. Well done to everyone involved.
will abbot is actually 17, closer to 18 than 16.
Tassie centrebacks were allowed to pay the ball all night without pressure. Most passes went sideways or backwards.
I feel for the young lads playing further up the park where the real pressure was. No plaudits for them.
Scott was the only defender who was able to regularly get forward and might have scored. My BOG for Tassie.
Jim Pennicott was no worse than other defenders if you consider that the fullbacks pushing on were receiving passes higher up the ground and were under more pressure. I thought he played a good game under the circumstances.
Football deserves better facilities. With some decent advertising we might have had a crush last night.
Anon 4:36 - I would have thought that every player picked last night was most able to work AFL style with little reward as I'm sure if you were there, then you would have seen that CCM had probably 70% possession. I agree Chell did not do as well going forward, but I think his positioning and discipline in a holding role were excellent. Lets be honest we were not great going forward, but that was to be expected with 1 up front. I thought the team was very balanced, committed and a great advertisement for young players who want to play being able to play at a higher level if given the chance. Anyone who questioned a selection obviously has never been involved in any of these teams as you can only pick those that make themselves eligible and want to commit. Crosswell for instance has not been interested in any of these teams in the last couple of years, so wishing him there is just pie in the sky. Great job by all, well done!
Liam Scott was brilliant last night. He showed maturity beyond his years. Pitchy made some fine saves! McKenna unfortunately showed his age. Crosswells pace and skill would have been great to see playing up front.
To the FFT Board , my congratulations on securing the match versus the mariners
To the ground staff my congratulations . The first impression I received on entering KG V was of a real football ground , well prepared and tended.
To the Support staff my congratulations on a well run and presented evening.
To the Coach and team . My special congratulations on a great effort .
I have been attending representative games since 1951 . This was the fittest and most technicaly skilled representative side I have seen .
The moreso bearing in mind the age and experience of the players.
Again my congratulations .
Brian Roberts.
omfg! we got done 3-0 by a side that was not nearly a first team and in a canter in what was a glorified training session for them at probably a lower intensity than their inter squad matches, get a grip
I agree with Charlie White, in that, if the opposition have the ball 70% of the time, don't you think it's a good thing having a defensive midfielder who has an AFL work rate? Who can time after time stop the opposition having everything their way? I am not a Kingborough player and never have been, but I thought both Kingborough players did expceptionally well. Especially Mark Iseli, He combined his pace, skill and desperation very well with Will Abbott's more casual but more thought out approach.
Not much in midfield attack-wise, would have been great to see a Ladic, Ricky Self, Paul Bremna or a Joseph Stevens in there for some creativity/composure. But well done to the boys, good to see them playing the 4-3-3 quite well after minimal training time.
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would be first in line to see another state team play.
JU
anon 9.04
Obviously you already have a grip
Let us have our moment
Some people are delusional, biase, plain stupid or all 3...
The boyz fought hard in the 1st half but were never going to match the intensity of CCM and that was without some of their biggest "guns" on the pitch. Yes Abbot is a young player and Yes he going to be a good player but he was made to look better than what he actually is... CCM put no pressure on the ball when we had possesion deep in our own defensive 3rd, allowing us to knock the ball around with ease, thus making the centrebacks look composed and cool when in essence, they had no pressure, ANON 5.45 is right in the sense that the boys that were under the pump the whole game in the midfield have received no recognition. As for the substitutions, Brown was useless where he was, Lo and Roach made minimal impacts and from the start, McKenna looked sluggish and well past his prime, riding on his name still me thinks. Overall it was an entertaining game to watch as far as watching the CCM boyzz, their passing was lighting fast and accurate, their shots crisp and movement off the ball was relentless. It would have been interesting to see what the game would have been like if Tassie had more preparation time, a more in depth, well thought out and senior senior Tassie squad playing a full CCM squad as apposed to a very young, slapped together tassie squad playing a reserve CCM squad not pulling out of second gear until the second half!!!
Great attendance at KGV and credit to the lads who played and FFT in general, hopefully more exhibition matches will be played in the south. AS for the boys who have copped a lot of grief on here, ie pennicott, unfortunately he played terribly but did the best he could and sadly on the night it just waasn't good enough, he will bounce back.
Will abott and Liam scott cleary the two boys that showed they can play at this level.
a bit loose in midfield at times, and although not a lot of chances going forward, the ones we did create were very good opportunities.
pitchford was impressive playing the ball out at the back but struggled big time in the air. Sam K did well, prob better of the two keepers.
I don't normally read/post on this blog, but Tasmania don't normally play the CCM.
The two teams are at two different standards by definition. So you cannot compare the performance of Tasmania against the performance of the CCM.
Given the speed of the preparation, the best we locals could hope for was a dedicated, hard working, spirited performance that gave the players a chance to show that we can play a mature brand of soccer.
This happened.
Rarely was the ball pumped forward, with all players looking to play to feet. Players stuck to the formation they were given and backed themselves when they go into the right areas.
Individual performances are NOT important. Team performances ARE important. The team performance was EXCELLENT.
Well done all players, no-one looked intimidated.
Shae Hickey
Tas dont normally play the CCM ??
Really !!!!
What are you trying to say ?
I'am saying that Tas playing CCM is the reason for me posting a comment when I normally don't bother.
Sae Hickey
Well said Shay. It's great to read yours & some of the other positive comments on here. I must say it's equally as disappointing to read the comments from people with no idea how to make a positive comment!! These people that continually make derogatory comments are obviously bitter about something, perhaps it is their own inability to achieve anything worthwhile in the game.
I believe that even if the score was nil all or even a victory for the Tassie boys there would still be idiots on here bagging the team. They would bring out the old 'it was only CCM Reserves' & 'CCM didn't try' etc. just to try & justify their negativity. I think each & every one of the players selected deserved their spot in the squad and am appreciative of their efforts.
Yes there were some unlucky players, there always is. Shay & Ricky Self are perfect examples of this.
Yes there were some players that could've (potentially) improved the team but didn't nominate for various reasons, there always will be.
Instead of sooking all the time, ask yourself this: What would you prefer, 1) watch a team represent the state against one of the best teams in the country, or 2)continue to complain that FFT do nothing to promote & improve the game.
Take it for what it was, an admirable performance from a team thrown together in less than two weeks in one of the most positive nights for Tasmanian Football in many many years. Well done to EVERYONE involved in putting it together on & off the park!
just goes to show .provide a product that people want to see and they will attend ,dont think you could do it every 3rd week though .
the central coast mariners did not play their reserve side. Hutchinson, Wilkinson, bojic, mrdja, griffiths, simon, kwasnik, mcbreen and porter are all part of their strongest players and all play (and mostly start) every week in the a-league. the tassie boys did a great job against top opposition
a few of those you named were 2nd half subs - when CCM stepped up. Tassie did OK but let's not get carried away.
Anon 10.10 Lets not get carried away? Whether it be 1st side or reserves, best players in 2nd half or not, high intensity by CCM or low! Whatever spin you want to put on it, this was an A- League squad and only the best players in the country get contracts in the A-League. Our Amateur Boys (no disrespect intended) did a fantastic Job and kept most of us on the edge of our seats in anticipation for at least 76 mins and for that they deserve a standing ovation. So, all you negagative Blog heroes out there, I say get a grip.
Beautifully said 'anonymous' @ 9:15am!! Spot on with all your comments.
spot on anon 9.15. Any way you look at it, Tassie played against a team that is used to playing at a standard far higher than that in Tasmania. They are professionals - we are amaetures. So holding our own is a step in the right direction.
I think FFT should make a real effort to organise some practice matches against some VPL teams at the beginning of next year. If they can come down here then excellent, but even if we have to go there it would still be worth it.
South Hobart have played Melbourne teams the last two years in a row with mixed results. Tassie NEEDS exposure to higher levels, and I think Vic is the next step - certainly well before we attain an A league license. Id be interested to hear peoples thoughts.
nuh sorry - total crap didn't make a decent forward movement all night happy to play around the back line as nauseum and caved in when ccm got serious. in any other sport - cricket, afl, hockey we'd be cringing at the facilities and being beaten by a club team. just shows how far we havent come in this sport to be rapt with mediocre crap. in afl there are probably 20 tassie boys running around, we've got 3 players playing test cricket and several hockeyroos and yet we wet ourselves when someone gets a trial at an a league club and congratulate fft for hosting a game in shite facilities. what a joke!
put someone in charge who wont accept this crap and maybe we can bring football to a reasonable level in tassie on and off the field.
Above comment doesn't actually warrant a reply. But hey, it's Friday night, had a couple of drinks so here goes. I'm sure the other sports must be stoked with their successful players, but pretty sure they don't have much participation in Brazil, Spain or Italy. Hardly world reknowned sports. As for AFL, OMG they only play that in 4 states in Australia and we all know how great the Devils Performed in the 2nd tier comp. Getting into an AFL team is a sinch in comparison to getting into an A-League team, for a start, they have 7 more players in their starting eleven and double the amount of teams. Josh Green is the next certainty to make the AFL draft and he played in the State Soccer Team about 3 years ago and didn't even get a sniff at being picked for the AIS. Ok facilities are crap, I don't think there will be too many people arguing about that, but there is just not enough money in the Tas Game. Having said that I think FFT can learn a lot from the Hockey model. Cheers
Anon @12:14am, you might want to learn how to count, as AFL is played in more than 4 states! Also AFL Tasmania and it's local leagues are worlds above the organisation of FFT and it's leagues no matter what you say. Nevermind the actual players involved!
....and that's coming from a lifelong soccer player!
Give me a break! Next thing you'll be telling me they play NRL in Victoria
31/7, 12.14AM
noone is comparing soccer to hockey as a sport. The comarison is Tassie's performances in soccer in Australia with its performance in other sports.
What has Brazil got to do with Tassie's pathetic record in soccer in comparison with other States.
Just cos you're trying to be positive doesn't mean you're right.
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