Friday, August 20, 2010

Beachside get another chance to wrap up Division One title






Photos (Top to Bottom): Metro's Jayden Wiggins (right) will be a key defender against his former club DOSA; Rubbish saves are not part of Nathan Grandin's repertoire so DOSA will have to be at their best to beat the Metro keeper; Nelson will expect big things from Patrick Lenck (second from left); With all Division One games scheduled for Saturday, there won't be any Premier League talent scouts to watch the games as there were last Sunday at North Warrane because they'll probably all be at the State-wide Cup finals; Metro are powerful in the air and DOSA will need to match them in this aspect of the game [PlessPix]


Beachside can wrap up the Division One title on Saturday by beating Hobart United at home at Sandown Park.


They could have done the job last weekend, but were held to a 1-1 draw by University, so they get another chance this weekend.


Even if they lose or draw, there will still be another opportunity the following weekend, so does it really matter?


FFT’s scheduling has taken a bit of the drama out of the contest anyway. All four Division One games are on Saturday, the same day as the State-wide Cup finals at KGV.


There is no men’s football scheduled for Sunday. Wouldn’t that have been an ideal day to play at least one of the four Division One games, and particularly the Beachside versus Hobart United match? Don’t they want people to see titles decided?


Beachside will be without the injured Fabian Lapolla and Jamon Pennicott. They will be replaced by Patrick Dunne and David Chadwick.


“Michael Soszynski produced some quality saves last week and he has been a significant factor in Beachside having the best defensive record in the league,” said Beachside player-coach, Nathan Robinson.


“Patrick Dunne will return and provide some natural left-side balance to the team, which was missing at Olinda Grove.


“Brett Pullen and Bernie Klasen continued their good form and, with 42 goals between them this season, we hope they can fire us to the title on Saturday.


“Hobart United are not to be taken lightly and have a proven track record as underdogs.


“They have pace in attack and skilful midfielders, which make them a dangerous opposition.”


Second-placed Metro should remain on the scent of Beachside if not hot on their heels as they should easily account for DOSA in a match that has been moved from the Showgrounds to North Chigwell on Saturday at 2.30pm.


DOSA did well against the FFT Under-15s last Monday night and will give a good account of themselves, but they are unlikely to hold out against the firepower of Metro at home.


Fourth-placed Nelson Eastern Suburbs entertain the FFT Under-15s at North Warrane and the home side should win comfortably.


Nelson defender Matt Fone has moved to Brisbane for a few months and will not play again this season.


Bill Hanley replaces him in the starting eleven, while Ollie Ireland, Max Caulfield and reserve keeper Ollie Burden will be on the bench.


“It was not a great performance from us last week and we will now be without a quality player in Matt Fone for the remaining three games of the season,” said Nelson coach, Michael Roach.


“We will be expecting to win against the State under-15 team this week, but we won't be taking anything for granted.


“It’s been a tough season for them, but they have competed well most weeks and have been scoring goals as well, so they’ll take something away from the season for sure.”


In the remaining match on Saturday, third-ranked University should prove superior to Southern FC at Olinda Grove.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Like the new format Walter.

Keep up the great work

Anonymous said...

great site walter looks even better!. also i believe Nathan Grandin keeps for Metro if im not mistaken

Anonymous said...

How are FFT supposed to know that this week would be the Division 1 is settled? If BeachSide won last week then it would have mattered this week?

FFT cop a fair bit of stick but that is a bit harsh.

Walter said...

Anonymous 5.29pm, thanks for that. I have changed it. Good to see some eagle-eyed sub-editors out there. Keep it up.

Walter said...

Anonymous 8.10pm, my complaint is that there is not a single Sunday game. That should have been remedied when the roster was originally drawn up. It might not have been the title decider, but surely fans would like at least one game on Sunday. Given that it is the title decider, why not move it to Sunday? We are trying to promote football and yet we make it difficult for fans to watch the games that matter.

Anonymous said...

And also a bit off topic why are we still playing senior ganes on The Showground pitches. They're hard as rock and not big enough.
Mike Lynch